Another chance at Life and Love
by WolveHulk
Summary: 2 long seperated lovers are finally reunited and are given a 2nd chance. But will they succeed or will Zarkon and the universe stop them?
1. Regaining memories and love

**Hello, my friends. I'm writing this story because there aren't many Allura/Hagger** stories** out there, so I thought about writing my own and hope to inspire others to make similar ones as well. This will take place during season 1 where Allura is on Zarkon's ship and Haggar's origen will be different than in canon. Anyway enjoy the 1st chapter, my friends.**

After Allura had saved Shiro and was captured by the Galrans, she'd been taken to Zarkon's command ship and was waiting in a cell until it opened, revealing the sorceress Haggar and 2 of her druids. "What do you want, which?" Allura asked with an angry voice as she hadn't forgotten what she did to Shiro.

Haggar looked at the Altean princess for a few minutes before strangely looking like she'd met her many years before her awakening.

"You two, leave us." She then spoke, snapping her fingers and pointing.

"But, high Priestess, lord Zarkon demanded that we bring her to him." 1 of the Druids reminded Haggar.

"I SAID LEAVE US!" The high Priestess yelled, confusing Allura and making the Druids back away from her before reluctantly doing as she said. Hagger walked in as the door closed behind her.

"What are you up to? Your master will be very furious with you when he finds out about this." Allura said with a smirk, imagining what Zarkon would do to Hagger once he found out she disobeyed her master.

"Quiet." Haggar backsassed with a strange look of recognition on her face, which Allura noticed. "I only want to know something before I take you to Zarkon, and I don't want anyone knowing about it but me."

"What's with the look on your face?" Allura asked as her face contorted in a mix of anger and disgust. "It's as if you know me or something. You already should know who and what I am. Didn't your lord and master tell you about me and the destruction of my home?!"

"He did, but I think remember you from a different time...when you were younger."

"W-what are you saying? I haven't seen you before." Allura said before noticing the red marks. "..but...those marks look... familiar. I can't explain it but I think I do know you from somewhere in the past but that shouldn't be possible. Even if I did remember you, you would have died with the passage of time, especially after 10'000 years."

"I know. I have been alive for over 10'000 years thanks to vast usage of the Quintessence, but the memories of my past are gone. But when I saw you, I felt like…I regained a memory of you, but I need to be certain." Haggar said before placing her hands on Allura's head and using her magic to see into her memories while unknowingly letting the Princess see into hers as well.

**Flashback 10'000 plus years ago**

_An 8 year old Allura was running around and playing with her newest toy that her father had gotten for her birthday. Her father had allowed her to play outside the palace grounds as long as she didn't go too far. While she was playing, she bumped into someone. "Oh sorry, I didn't see you there." _

_But the person she bumped into was another little about her age. Her skin was purple and she had yellow eyes and purple pupils and had red marks on her face and had pure white hair. "Oh that's alright, I was caught up in my book and I didn't notice you." The girl said with her hand held out apologetically before Allura helped her up. "Wait, you're her, aren't you? Princess Allura?"_

_"I am. Father let me leave the palace grounds to play with my new birthday present. Would you... like to play with me?" Allura asked with a smile._

_"Well I don't really have anything better to do and since you're the princess, I'd love to." The girl said with a smile, happy to have the chance to play with the princess._

_"Oh before we play, what's your name?" Allura asked curiously, wanting to know the name of a possible new friend._

_"Haggar. My name's Haggar, princess Allura." The girl now known as Haggar said humbly while bowing to the princess as she had been taught by her parents that it was custom for a citizen to bow to royalty._

_"That's a nice name, Haggar, and you don't have to bow, at least not when we're playing." Young Allura said as a smile while telling her new friend that she didn't need to bow to her._

_"Thank you, Allura, let's play." Haggar said with excitement. _

_The 2 little girls spent the next few hours playing hide and seek and tag, which was lots of fun for them until it was noon. "Well Haggar, I have to head home for lunch. Wanna play with me tomorrow?" Allura asked with a hopeful look, wanting to play with the purple skinned girl again._

_"Why of course, Allura. After all, we're friends, aren't we?" Haggar asked hopefully._

_"Of course we are, Haggar! We're best friends now!" Allura said with happiness, knowing that she now has a best friend to play with now._

_"Great! I'll see you tomorrow, Allura. Bye." Haggar said before she hugged Allura and headed home, with the Altean princess doing the same thing. _

_During the next few years, Allura and Haggar's friendship only grew. They played together every day and Allura even introduced her friend to her father, who was very nice to the purple skinned Altean. Her family was even invited to royal dinners due to Allura and Haggar's friendship at the princess's request and Haggar had even spent a couple of nights with her friend. But 1 day when they were almost 14 years old, Haggar and her family moved off planet to explore the universe and further their daughter's education, much to Allura's and Haggar's sadness but before Haggar left, she shared 1 last sleepover with Allura. And it was a great one until morning came and Haggar dressed up for her departure._

_"So Haggar, are you sure that you can't change your parents minds? I really don't want to lose you." Allura said as she embraced her friend._

_"Believe me I tried, Allura, but they're dead set on it. There's nothing I can do, I have to go. But I promise you on my life, when I've learned all I can and turned 20, I'm getting the first ship I can find and I'll come back. And when that time comes, we'll never be apart from each other again, because I'll be staying on the planet...with you." Haggar said with sadness, vowing to return to the planet when she turned 20 and learned all that she could and stay with Allura forever._

_"Then perhaps you could do last thing for me to keep that promise?" Allura asked, wanting something from Haggar to know that she'd keep her promise._

_"Of course. What do you want me to do?" _

_"Well...I've never actually...had...my first kiss and I've never thought about having a male suitor...so I was... wondering if-" Allura asked with hesitation because she didn't want to disgust her friend._

_"If I'd be the one to give you your very first kiss? Why of course I would. I've actually dreamed of it myself but I didn't think you'd ever feel that way about me." Haggar said with happiness, having thought about what it would be like to kiss Allura._

_"Thank you so much, Haggar! I'm so happy that you're willing to be the one who gives me my first kiss." Allura said with equal happiness. The 2 slowly leaned in and felt their lips touch together in a short kiss before they separated with gasps and very surprised looks on their faces. "That...was great." _

_"Yes it was, Allura, I really liked it." Haggar said with a smile before putting her hands on her cheeks. "Would you like to...kiss me again." _

_"Of course, Haggar." Allura said as she wrapped her arms around Hagger's neck, wanting to feel the good feeling that she gave her with that first kiss. They leaned in and kissed very short kisses before it got more passionate. The 2 teenage girls kissed passionately for about 5 minutes before separating again. "Haggar, I-I-I... love you."_

_The white haired teenager couldn't believe what she'd heard. Princess Allura, daughter of King Alfor and her best friend loved her. She couldn't deny that she'd been in love with her for quite some time and to hear her say that she also shared her feelings made her shed tears as she knew that it would be years before they'd see each other again and that made what they'd just done all the more painful. "I...love you too, Allura, but if I leave, we won't be able to be together. And by that time I come back, you'll probably be married and have a child, and this moment will have been for nothing." _

_"No Haggar, this moment will have meant everything to me. No matter what happens during the years we're apart, I'll be waiting for you and I promise that when that eventual day comes, you'll be the one I marry, and we'll become wife and wife and protect Altea together as its benevolent queens." Allura said as she held Haggar's hands, vowing to marry her when she eventually returns to the planet and to protect the people side by side with her as its queens._

_"Do you promise?" Haggar asked with a bit of hope._

_Allura kissed Haggar again and smiled. "I give you my most sacred vow that that future will happen, my love." _

_"Then I'll think about nothing else but making that wonderful future happen." Haggar said with a smile before realizing that it was almost time for her to leave. "It's almost time for me to go, my love." _

_"I know, but I promise you that while we're far away from each other, I'll always be with you in your heart." Allura promised as they shared 1 last hug and kiss before Haggar left. But unfortunately, the future they'd both promised would not come to pass as when Allura had turned 19, she'd heard that something terrible happened to Haggar and she'd been presumed dead, devastating the Altean princess. But there wasn't any time to mourn as the Galran empire led by Zarkon had attacked the planet without mercy and that was when King Alfor had put her into stases for the next 10'000 years. _

**Flashback end**

The shock of what Haggar saw in Allura's memories was so strong that it caused her yell out and fall to the floor with her hood dropping off, making Allura gasp as she now knew who this was: Haggar, the one she'd promised to give her hand in marriage, and the woman that she'd loved thousands of years ago. "Haggar...is that really you?"

"Allura? My...love?" Haggar said with shock as she now fully recovered her memories of Allura. Now that she recognized her again, all the memories of what she did under Zarkon's command were now very painful as she now knew that she'd helped cause the one she loved so much pain. It hurt her heart so much that she shed tears for the first time in thousands of years and she began crying her now yellow and purple eyes, that had turned back as soon as she let go of the princess out as Allura slowly walked up to her and gently put her hands on her old love's shoulders, making her look up at the princess.

"No, don't look at me, Allura. I can't bear it." Haggar said with regret and remorse, not willing to bear the thought of her former love hating her.

"Don't worry, Haggar, I don't hate you. It's quite the opposite, I still love you." Allura said softly before she kissed her cheek before pulling her to her feet. "Haggar, come on. We have to get out of here."

This made the high Priestess look at the Altean princess with shock. "We? You're kidding, aren't you? Just leave while you can." Haggar said before she touched Allura's head and a purple energy surrounded her before stopping. "I gave you the codes to every door and ship in this fleet. Just disguise yourself as a soldier again and get out of here before-"

"No Haggar, I'm not going to leave you here. You're coming with me. I saw your memories while you saw mine, and I know what Zarkon did to you. It erased the memories of your old life, your family and me. But now that you've regained them, your true self has finally returned after so many years of suffering." Allura said with compassion for the one she still loved. "Now come on, Haggar, let's get out of here... please."

Haggar looked into her eyes and saw the very familiar love that Allura had for her thousands of years ago and reluctantly nodded her head. "Ok. Let's go." She said still saddened, still not believing that the Altean princess could still love her after what she'd seen in her memories.

That was when Shiro and Hunk showed up and immediately drew their weapons. "Get away from her, witch lady!" Hunk said with a threatening face.

"Stop! Don't hurt her!" Allura said, immediately holding her hand out to stop them from hurting Haggar.

This shocked the 2 Paladins as they weren't expecting this, but now wasn't the time for this. "Hunk, we don't have time for this. Let's just get out of here!" Shiro told his friends

"I'm not leaving without her!" Allura yelled, not wanting to lose the woman she loved again after so many years of being apart.

"Fine. We'll just take her with us, now let's go!" Shiro and before they both ran out of the cell with the 2 women and made their way to the Black Lion. Once they got off the ship and saved Keith from Zarkon, they flew to the ship/castle and Allura quickly took the controls.

After a few minutes, the barrier surrounding the area surprisingly faded and Allura quickly opened a wormhole and flew through it, escaping Zarkon and his fleet. When they were safe, everyone was extremely shocked at seeing the witch lady on-board. "Allura, what's she doing here?!" Coran asked with a fearful look on his face.

"I know this will shock everyone but… this is Haggar...my best friend from 10'000 years ago." Allura told them as she put a hand on Hagger's shoulder as she still looked uneasy about being here.

"Allura, how can _she _be your old friend from way back then? She's Zarkon's high priestess!" Lance reminded the princess with disbelief that she and Zarkon's high priestess were old friends from 10'000 years ago.

"Not to mention she took Shiro's arm!" Hunk said, reminding Allura about what she did to Shiro.

"Wait. Now that I think about it, Allura did have a very close childhood friend named Haggar. The white hair, purple skin, the eyes and red marks confirm it. They're the same features that Allura's friend had as a child." Coran said as he closely looked at Haggar's face and was beginning to remember.

"But if you're Allura's friend from that long ago, how are you even still alive after all this time?" Pidge asked Haggar, wondering how she could still be alive after 10'000 years.

"It the...Quintessence. During my time apart from Allura, I studied it and found out that it gave whoever was infused with it an unnaturally long lifespan as well as immense physical strength. When Zarkon learned of it, he grew obsessed with it and...kidnapped me. I begged him not to tamper with it too much but he made me continue my experiments and said that he would...kill Allura if I didn't. I couldn't bear the thought of losing her, so I did as he asked but an eventual overdose of the Quintessence... corrupted Zarkon even more and...even me to the point where all my past memories were gone, except my name. After the destruction of Altea, I continued my experiments and Zarkon and I regularly had infusions of the Quintessence to keep ourselves alive for the past 10'000 years and... I think you know the rest." Haggar explained while shedding tears, beginning to cry as she now knew all the horrible things she did in Zarkon's name.

"So…that's what happened to you." Allura said with tears falling from her eyes, now understanding what had happened to Haggar. Being kidnapped by Zarkon and forcing her to continue her work with the Quintessence to protect her until an overdose of it seemingly killed her but had really taken away her most precious memories while corrupting her.

The others didn't know what to think. During the time they've known Allura, she never talked about Haggar and now they knew why: The devastation she felt over the loss must have felt made it hard for her, which they couldn't blame her for as they would do the same in her position. But now that she had Haggar back, there was no telling what this could mean for any of them, even Zarkon's former high priestess.

"Princess, what will we do with her?" Coran asked, wondering what was to become of Allura's old friend.

"Yeah. It's obvious that she can't go back to Zarkon because he'll more than likely kill her for disobedience and desertion...or something way worse." Shiro said, knowing that Zarkon would most likely kill the sorceress because if what she's done.

"Haggar stays here with me, and don't argue with me about it! Now that I know what happened to her, I'm not losing her again!" Allura said with determination to not lose Haggar ever again.

"Allura don't, I've done so many horrible things. To your friends, Altea, the universe, and even you. I should just be thrown somewhere deep in darkness where no one can find me again." Haggar said as she put her hands on Allura's shoulders with pleading eyes, thinking that that kind of fate was no more than she deserved for all the terrible things she'd done in the past.

"No Haggar, don't talk like that. The one who did all those horrible things wasn't the real you. The real you would've never done those awful things. The one who did them was the monster that Zarkon wanted you to be when your memories were erased. But now you're free of him and we're both together again, and I promise you that I will never lose you again." Allura said gently.

Hearing this made Haggar shed tears as she so surprised at the compassion Allura still had for her touched her heart so much that it caused her to break down and embrace the princess in a long overdue hug while Allura rubbed her old friend's head gently.

The others were so shocked at seeing this that they actually shed a few tears as well despite trying to fight it. After a few minutes, Haggar calmed down and they separated. "Well, it's been a long crazy few days, so I think we could all use a few hours of sleep." Shiro told everyone, feeling exhausted after the last few hours.

"Quite certainly, Shiro, everyone turn in for the night and tomorrow we'll all decide our next move." Coran told everyone, feeling sleepy himself.

"That'd be great after I chow down on a delicious hot meal." Hunk said, feeling hungry like he did most of the time.

"Yeah, me too." Lance said, feeling hungry as well.

"I'm just gonna get some sleep. I'm very tired right now." Kieth said as he went to his room while the rest of them went their own way.

"Allura, where will your old friend be staying? In one of the other rooms?" Coran asked while already knowing the answer.

"Haggar is to stay with me in my room. We have so much to catch up on and a sleepover is the best way to start that. That is...if you want to." Allura said while looking at Haggar with hopeful eyes.

"Of course I will, Allura, I don't want to be alone right now, especially now that we've reunited again after all this time." Haggar said with a small smile before taking the princess's hand and leading her to her bedroom.

When they got there, they locked the door and Allura quickly took out an outfit for Haggar that was much better than the dark cloak and hood. When Haggar went to the bathroom to bathe herself, Allura changed into her sleeping gown and let her hair done before getting on the bed and waited for a while before Haggar came back in her new sleeping gown and saw that Allura had disposed of the cloak before getting in bed with the one she loved.

"You disposed of the cloak?" Haggar asked as she got comfortable.

"Yes. That awful thing will only be a reminder of someone that was a shell of her true self." Allura answered as she embraced Haggar.

"Thank you, Allura. But there's something we need to talk about: while we were with your new Paladins, you told them that I was your friend but you never told them about the promise we made." Haggar said, remembering that Allura had left the part about their promise to marry out of the conversation.

"Because I don't want them to know about it...yet. I really want us to be together, Haggar, the way it should've been all those years ago." Allura said as she caressed Haggar's right red mark with her index finger.

"I... don't think that's possible anymore, Allura. I really do want to, but I'm just... afraid that I'll…end up hurting you and there's the matter of the others and the universe finding out and... humiliating us about it...or worse." Haggar said with doubt, afraid of what the others and the universe would think of them or of herself hurting her somehow.

"You think I never thought of that possibility? That's the risks everyone takes when they fell in love. I couldn't care less about what the others and the universe will think of our relationship. If they have a problem with it, then they will just have to get over it but if they don't, you and I could always beat them into accepting us and of course there's your magic. And you could never, ever hurt me. I know that we'll have a great life together."

"But...Zarkon-"

"Zarkon will not seperate us ever again. The Paladins will defeat him eventually, one victory at a time. And when he's gone for good, the universe will be free and the two of us can begin the life we've always dreamed of. Maybe not living as the queens of Altea, but our life will still be great as ordinary people." Allura said with a smile.

Haggar then touched Allura's cheek. "Are you sure about this, Allura?"

"Absolutely, Haggar. We lost that chance 10'000 years ago. But now that we're reunited, that chance has been given to us again. Please...my love, take this 2nd chance at our happiness and love...for me...for us." Allura said while looking into the eyes of the one she still loved.

Haggar thought about everything Allura said and about what she was offering. When she left Altea, all she thought about was the life she and the princess promised they would live together and now it was right in front of them once again after so many years of separation. And despite all the doubts she had, there was no denying that she wanted the same thing Allura did. After a few more minutes, she smiled and looked at the Altean princess with love. "I'll take this 2nd chance, my love...for you...and for us."

Allura smiled before they leaned in and shared a passionate, long overdue kiss that lasted for 10 minutes before they separated and looked at each other with love. "I've waited 10'000 years to do that again."

"So have I. Well... goodnight, my love." Haggar said as she closed her eyes and fell asleep while snuggling with her princess.

"Goodnight...my darling." Allura said with a smile while getting comfortable in her Haggar's embrace as she fell asleep with the one she loved.

**Meanwhile with Zarkon**

The evil Galran emperor was seeking the location of the Altean castle and saw everything that had been said by the Altean princess and his now traitorous high priestess. "So Haggar, you have reclaimed your memories and have betrayed me. This will not STAND! YOU WILL SUFFER DEARLY FOR THIS!" He yelled in rage as his evil purple eyes glowed brighter, vowing to make Haggar suffer greatly. "Beginning with your precious princess Allura."

**There you go, my friends, the first chapter of Another chance at Life and Love is complete. I know that everyone is Ooc but that's what this site's for. Rate and review. See you soon my friends.**


	2. A long overdue first date

**Chapter 2 a long overdue first date**

After many hours of sleep, the reunited lovers finally woke up. Allura being the first and when she saw that Haggar was still sleeping peacefully with a gentle smile, she knew that it wasn't a dream and that she was really reunited with the woman she loved. The princess lightly stroked her hair and kissed her forehead, making Haggar open her eyes. "Good morning, Haggar."

"Good morning, my love." Haggar said before they shared a sweet good morning kiss. "So, how did you sleep?"

"Far better than I have in thousands of years…especially since I slept beside the woman I love. How about you?"

"This is the first time in thousands of years I've slept like this; peaceful and happy. The only time I've ever slept this way was when we had our last sleepover... before I left." Haggar said with regret, having slept better than she had in thousands of years while also still regretting leaving Allura.

"Shhh. It's alright, my love. We're together again and that's all that matters to me now." Allura said with a smile before kissing Haggar again. They looked at each other for a few minutes before a thought came to the Altean princess. "Hagger, would you like to go on a date with me later tonight? Since we're making up for lost time, a first date is the perfect way to start."

Haggar was surprised that her princess wanted to go on a date so soon after being reunited with her for just a few hours. She couldn't deny that she wanted that as well but was a little hesitant. "Allura, I'd love nothing more to go on a date with you, so we can make up for all those years of being separated. But are you sure about tonight? Especially since Zarkon no doubtingly knows that I defected to your side and we've regained our lost memories."

Allura answered softly as she understood that the woman she loved was simply worried about them being attacked by Zakron's forces, especially during their date. "We won't have to worry about Zakron and his forces attacking us, my love. I figured we'd go to a planet that hasn't been conquered by Zakron and his empire for our date."

Hagger thought about it and smiled as she understood why her princess lover had chosen a planet that wasn't conquered by Zarkon. "That's a brilliant idea. He would never expect us to head to a planet that isn't within his empire yet."

"Then it's settled. Later tonight, we're going on our long overdue first date. We'll just have to tell the others we'll be gone for a while to make up for the time we lost outside Zarkon's reach so they won't get worried, especially Coran."

"You still don't want them to know that we're together, my love?" Hagger asked while already knowing the answer.

"No. Not until the time is right. They just need to try to get used to you being here with me. It may take a while but eventually they'll get used to you and we'll finally tell them about our relationship." Allura said, not wanting the Paladins and Coran to know that they were together until only after they got used to Haggar and accepted her.

"Alright. Well, as much as I would love to stay in bed with you, it's time to get up and start the day." Haggar said with a smile as she rubbed her princess's cheek.

"That sounds good. After all, we wouldn't want to miss the chance for our date, would we?" Allura said with a smile before they got out of bed and began to dress up for the day.

**Meanwhile with the Paladins and Coran **

"So guys, what do think about having Haggar with us?" Hunk asked, wanting to know his friends opinion on Haggar being with them. "I mean, if she's going to be staying with us, we're gonna have to give her a chance."

"I know but...she did so many bad things, and let's not forget about what she did to Shiro." Lance reminded his friends.

"I know what she did to me, and I know that I should be hating her, but when I saw her eyes, they had nothing but remorse and regret. I've never seen anyone cry while feeling those emotions and not meaning it." Shiro told them, having seen nothing but remorse and regret in Haggar's eyes.

"She could be a valuable asset to us. Think about it. She was Zarkon's high priestess and she knows things that even his soldiers don't know, and there's no way Zarkon would trust anyone else with his plans if he wanted them kept secret." Lance said, knowing how valuable Haggar's knowledge of Zarkon's plans were.

"Plus, with all her magic powers, the battles with Zarkon's fleets will be a whole lot easier." Keith said.

"That all sounds good and all, but we gotta remember that Allura's the one who decides what we do with Haggar. And from what I saw last night, I'm going to try to make friends with her and earn her trust. And I don't think you guys should see her as just an asset and some secret weapon we can use against Zarkon. That's taking advantage of her and I don't think Allura would like that." Pidge said, knowing from what how close Allura was with Haggar last night, she'd be furious with the team for only seeing Haggar as a weapon and information giver and taking advantage of her knowledge and magic. "Speaking of Allura and Haggar, they've certainly been asleep a bit past Allura's normal wake time."

"Well, They've reunited again after 10'000 years of separation. They're probably having the greatest sleep they've had since their last sleepover as teenagers and It must be so wonderful that they're probably already awake and don't want to get out of the bed." Coran said, knowing the 2 ladies would want that before they suddenly heard footsteps making their way into the room.

"Spoke too soon, Coran." Pidge said with a smirk as she knew that the 2 ladies were coming. The doors opened and Allura and Haggar came in, with Haggar wearing what was presumably 1 of Allura's outfits. "Morning guys, how'd you sleep?"

"Better than we have in heaven knows how many years." Allura said with a smile as she held Haggar's hand and sat down with her.

"That's great. How about you, Haggar? Sleep well?" Pidge asked the ex high priestess with an honest smile.

"I slept the most peaceful sleep that I've ever had in thousands of years, especially since Allura was with me. And there's no one else I'd rather have a peaceful sleep with than with her." Haggar said as she held her princess's hand.

"So, who's hungry?" Hunk asked with a smile before he went to the kitchen to prepare everyone a good breakfast.

While everyone was eating, they noticed that Haggar was eating like she'd not had a decent breakfast in a very long time. "Whoa Haggar, you feeling okay?" Keith asked with a freaked out face.

"I've never seen anybody eat like that before." Lance said with the same face.

"Yeah. Even I don't eat like that, and I'm almost always hungry." Hunks said with an impressed face.

"I'm surprised, too. What's the last time she had a decent breakfast?" Shiro asked, wondering how long it's been since Haggar had a decent meal.

"Must have been a very long while. But can't really blame her. Anyone of us would be the same way if we only ate what she did while she was...well...you know." Pidge said while trying not to offend Haggar.

When Allura saw that Haggar continued to eat while ignoring the Paladins because she was too delighted at the tasty food, she giggled and patted Haggar's shoulder gently, making the ex high priestess stop to look at her. "Easy, Haggar, wouldn't want you to be so full you won't be able to eat while we're making up for lost time, would we?"

This made Haggar smile as she swallowed her food. "Of course not, Allura."

After everyone finished eating, they spent most of their time talking with Haggar and what she was like during her childhood with Allura, which the ex high priestess happily shared with Allura by her side. During that time, the team was beginning to see Haggar in her true light, Pidge mostly because she and Allura were the only females in the castle. The others were beginning to trust Haggar a bit but not fully yet but kept their mouths shut when Allura noticed that they were looking at her Haggar the wrong way briefly and gave them death threatening glares.

When half of the day was up, Allura and Haggar gathered the others to inform them of their plans. "Haggar and I have decided to go somewhere alone together to make up for lost time." Allura told them.

"Allura, you can't do that. Zarkon's probably looking for Haggar even as we speak! And if you're with her, who knows what will happen when he gets his hands on both of you!" Shiro said with concern.

"Shiro's right. You 2 can't just go on a trip when the most evil tyrant's out there right now looking for us! He gets his hands on you 2 and he'll use Allura to lure us out and we may not be so lucky as last time." Keith told the 2 lovers with a tense face.

"That's why we're going to a planet that Zarkon and his empire have not reached yet. I was his high priestess and adviser long enough to know which planets he hasn't enslaved or destroyed." Haggar countered.

"Hey we know you were, Haggar but taking a trip right now is way too risky and dangerous, even if Zarkon hasn't been to the planet you're going to, there's no guarantee that he won't be able to find out where you 2 are and take you hostage just like that." Hunk said as he snapped his fingers.

"Reluctantly, I must agree. If you 2 leave now, there's no telling what Zarkon will do to both of you if he finds out that you left the castle and that you're both vulnerable." Coran said, reluctantly agreeing with the male members of the team.

"I don't care what Zarkon will do or if he does find out we've gone. The Galron empire hasn't enslaved every planet in the galaxys and that's why we're going to one of those planets, because it's the last thing he'll expect. If he does make a move, you'll all be prepared to battle him." Allura said, siding with her lover on this as she wanted to make up for the time they lost as much as she did.

"Guys...I think we should let them take their trip." Pidge said, agreeing with Allura and Haggar, much to the team's shock and the surprise of the 2 lovers. "Look, their right. If Zarkon makes a move, we'll be prepared to fight him and they said they'd go to a planet he hasn't enslaved yet. Besides, they need this."

"Thank you, Pidge." Allura said as she hugged the Paladin of the Green Lion.

"You're actually agreeing with them, Pidge?! You can't possibly be serious!" Coran yelled, not believing that the the tech expert could actually be agree with the princess and her long lost friend.

"No! Absolutely not, it's too dangerous for you 2 to leave here! Especially if Zarkon knows about what Haggar's done!" Shiro yelled at the 2 lovers.

"Haggar and I are GOING!" Allura yelled, beginning to get mad.

"No you're not! how do you know that this could be a trap, Allura?! Haggar could lead Zarkon right to you and if he got you again, there's no guarantee he'll go as easy on you next time!" Lance said as he got into Allura's face while grabbing her arms in anger.

But this only infuriated Haggar, who began glowing dark purple along with her eyes as she used her telekinetic powers to lift everyone except Pidge into the air. "ALLURA AND I HAVE BEEN APART FROM EACH OTHER FOR FAR TOO LONG AND HAVE LOST 10'000 YEAR'S WORTH OF TIME TOGETHER! TIME THAT WE'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO GET BACK! SO ALLURA AND I ARE TAKING THIS LONG OVERDUE TRIP, AND ANYONE WHO TRIES TO STOP US WILL BE SORRY!" The ex high priestess yelled at the top of her lungs as she began to squeeze the team with her power enough to hurt them a little but not kill them as she wouldn't hurt her Allura's heart by doing something so horrible when they had just been reunited.

"Haggar, please calm down." Allura said while gently holding her lover's arm with pleading eyes, with Pidge doing the same thing.

Haggar sighed and let them all except Lance go before bringing him to her and looking him dead in the eyes. "If you ever do that to Allura again, I'll do things to you that will make you wish you were dead." She threatened with a dark voice before throwing him down and taking Allura by the hand before leading her out of the room while looking at Pidge. "Pidge, is it?"

"Y-yeah?"

"Come with us." Haggar told her, making her nod before following them to Allura's room. While the lovers were changing clothes for their trip, Pidge was just standing while she waited for them.

"Thank you for agreeing with us, Pidge." Allura said with a smile as they came out of the dressing room.

"Hey, you 2 deserve some time alone together and I figured why not? After all, it's what I'd do, too. But I think that magic thing you did was a bit much, though." Pidge said while looking at Haggar in a beautiful outfit that was fitting for a trip and Allura in a similar outfit.

"I had to get through to them somehow and words clearly were not working. And no one lays hands on Allura like that, not while I'm here. I understand that she's a gifted combatant, but I want to protect her if and when that isn't enough. What I did to your friends was a taste of what I'll do to Zarkon when he's eventually defeated." Haggar explained while thinking of a worse fate for Zarkon once he's finally defeated.

"Still, I think they got your message, Haggar. After that little display, they'll think twice before ever denying us anything again. But I think you should go just a bit easy on them next time." Allura said with a smile before turning to Pidge. "Thank you, Pidge. We'll be back in a while but if Zarkon attacks, be prepared, alright?"

"Sure thing, princess. Have fun, you 2." Pidge said as she waved at the 2 ladies and went to her room to work on her tech.

Allura and Haggar went to the hanger and got into a royal family cruise ship that King Alfor had in his time. They got in and set up coordinates for a suitable planet that was not within the Galron empire. Once they were far away from the ship/castle, Allura put the ship on autopilot and got in Haggar's lap and put her arms around her neck.

"I'm so happy that we're finally going on our first date. I always dreamed of this while we were apart. And now that this moment is finally here, I feel like I'm already in paradise." Allura said sweetly as she touched her forehead with her lover's.

"I feel the same way, my love. I'm just sad that it wasn't like this 10'000 years ago. I... should've stayed with you. I should've just told my parents that I wasn't going to leave you for furthering my education." Haggar said with regret that she didn't fight harder with her parents to stay with Allura instead of eventually listening to them and going through with their plan.

"Shhh." Allura said while putting a finger on her Haggar's lips. "It's alright, my darling. I know that you couldn't change your parents minds. And it may have separated us and kept us apart and set us on different paths…but we're here now, we're together and that's all that matters to me now."

Haggar pulled her princess in for a long loving kiss that lasted for 10 minutes before they separated and hugged for a while before they finally got to the planet they would be having their first official date on. After landing planet side and on a landing strip, Allura and Hagger had gone to the planet's biggest mall first: to shop for and buy clothes for the princess's girlfriend and lover, especially since Hagger would now be living her long lost love on the Paladin's ship and her castle once they defeated Zarkon and the Galran Empire and rebuilt their home planet. There was even some Altean outfits that Haggar liked and decided to buy them to let all the universe would see that she was Altean again after so many years.

After putting the clothes in their ship, they headed to an expensive restaurant which Allura could afford, due to being a princess and of royal blood. Once they were checked in and seated to a table and placing an order for dinner, Allura and Hagger chatted while waiting for their meal.

"So when Zarkon attacked, my father scattered the Voltron Lions before putting me and Coran in stasis...before Zarkon got to him and...killed him, making me the last survivor of my family. After that, I slept for 10'000 years. During that time...I dreamt of you and the life that we should have had: us going on our first date, our eventual marriage at the most wonderful royal ceremony in all of Altean history...and our coronation into the Queens of Altea and ruling and protecting our people in every way possible." Allura said with a dreamy smile while looking at Haggar and thinking of the life they could have had if Zarkon hadn't attacked. "After that, my new Paladins woke me, Coran and my 4 pet mice. They informed me of everything that happened and I became their mentor. When we finally found the Lions, the team couldn't work together so Coran put them through training but they obviously failed miserably until a food fight finally allowed them to connect with Voltron." Allura informed her girlfriend.

Haggar couldn't help but feel remorse for what Allura went through but smiled when she told her what she dreamed about while in stasis. When Allura got to where the Paladins had a food fight and finally formed Voltron, she couldn't help but chuckle.

"How about you, my love? What was your life like...before Zarkon kidnapped you? Can you remember any of it?" Allura asked with some hesitation, not wanting to hurt her lover on their 1st date.

Haggar hesitated for a bit before telling her princess want she could remember. "Well, when my parents and I got off planet, I stared at Altea until it was out of sight. My mother comforted me during the trip and when we got to the planet where I was to attend school, I had trouble adjusting...especially since I felt lonely because I missed you everyday. I tried to take my mind off of it through my studies and while it did help, I couldn't stop thinking about you and couldn't wait for the day that we'd be reunited so we could live the life we planned for us. But the rest... I can't remember because of regular infusions of the Quintessence...erased my memories, but I do remember everything that I did under _him."_

Allura took her lover's hands and rubbed them with her thumbs gently. "Don't worry, my darling, we're finally together again after so many years of suffering and that's all that should matter to the both of us now. But if you ever want to talk about what happened during those years, I'll always be here to listen to you and help you through it."

Haggar smiled and rubbed her princess girlfriend's hair. "Thank you so much, my love. But let's just enjoy the rest of our night together. Our food's here. She said with a smile as the waiter and server finally served them their food, the two girlfriends had shared a romantic dinner together, which was the best dinner they'd eaten in their lives due to finally eating together.

After they ate dessert, Allura heard a romantic song playing and got up while holding out her hand. "Haggar, would you honor me with my first dance?"

Haggar was surprised as she would be the one to give her princess her very first dance and smiled before taking her hand. "It would be an honor to give my princess her very first dance." She said humbly before leading them to the dance floor. The crowd cleared the way and gave them plenty of space for their dance, as if they knew that they were a very special couple. The dance was slow and sweet as they stayed locked into each other's eyes the whole time as the romantic songs that played touched their hearts greatly that they shed happy tears, knowing they'd never be apart again before Allura seductively wrapped her arms around her Haggar's neck and slowly leaned in, sharing a very slow and passionate kiss, making the crowd clap and cheer for them. The kiss lasted for 5 minutes before they broke apart for air but were nose to nose.

"What would you like to do to end this wonderful night, my love?" Haggar asked her lover softly.

"How about a stroll a beautiful park here? We could look at the moon and even glow in its light." Allura suggested with a romantic smile.

"I'd like that, my love. To be able to glow in the moonlight is something I always dreamed of." Haggar said with happiness before they walked out of the restaurant.

They found the nearest park and took a stroll through it before finally coming up to a hill where the moon glowed the brightest and stood there in a close embrace as they looked at the moon before looking at each other and saw that each other's eyes were shining like stars in the sky.

Allura stated lovingly to her long lost love. "I love you, my darling Hagger."

The ex high priestess smiled lovingly at her princess lover as she wrapped her arms around her waist. "I love you too, my beautiful princess Allura." She said sweetly before they shared a burning passionate kiss before they separated and rubbed their noses together.

The 2 long lost lovers then headed back to the ship and headed back to the castle/ship and back to the princess's personal room, where they found a note from Pidge.

"Hi you 2, hope you both had a great time tonight. Zarkon didn't attack so we're not in danger yet. I hope you both tell me what happened on your trip when we have more free time. Sincerely, your friend Pidge." Allura read, making the lovers smile.

"I must admit that I'm beginning to like that Pidge girl. If she keeps this up, let's tell her first." Haggar said with a smile as Allura's let mice came up to them and Haggar held out her hands for 1 of them to come and allow her to pick it up gently before she rubbed its fur while the other 3 got on her shoulders, thinking that Pidge and herself could become fast friends due to her supporting them.

"It would be great. I see my pet mice like you." Allura said with a smile as she watched her pet mice nuzzled Haggar before going to their sleeping place.

"They're very cute. I think I'll enjoy their company. Well, let's change into our night clothing and get some sleep, my beautiful princess." Haggar said before kissing Allura gently.

"Of course, my beautiful darling." Allura said with a smile before they went into the dressing room, changed into their night clothing and climbed into bed to snuggle closely together. "Goodnight Haggar, my darling princess."

"Wait. Shouldn't I be calling _you_ that, Allura?" Haggar asked with a surprised face as she wasn't expecting to be called a princess.

"Well, we're finally dating now, Haggar, and that makes you a princess in my eyes. _My _princess." Allura said with a loving smile as she traced her finger on Haggar's red mark again.

Haggar smiled lovingly at her princess as she embraced her closely to where they were wrapped around each other. "If you say that I'm your princess, then that's what I'll be. Well, goodnight...my princess." She said as they shared 1 last kiss for the night.

"Goodnight Haggar, my love, my... beautiful princess." Allura whispered softly before they finally fell asleep, dreaming of only each other and the life they'd have after Zarkon was finally defeated.

**There you go, my friends, the first date chapter is complete. Next will be the Greening the Cube episode with Haggar helping the Paladins on her first mission to prove herself. Rate and review. See you soon, my friends.**


	3. Greening the Cube

**Here we go, my friends, Greening the Cube has begun. I'll describe the Shiro's Escape episode but then the actual episode of Greening the Cube will begin afterwards. The chapter will be somewhat different from the actual episode because of Haggar being in it. Anyway, enjoy the entertainment, my friends.**

It had been a few weeks since Allura and Haggar went on their first date and since then things were not going well for everyone. They'd been constantly on the move from the Galron fleets, who revealed that Zarkon had placed a very large bounty on Haggar and Allura due to Hagger betraying him and due to the strong bond they now regained with their memories.

Since then they'd been constantly on the run while fighting off any Galron fleets they could. It wasn't until one day that Shiro remembered that Ulaz, a Galra doctor, helped him escape when he was experimented on, despite Allura saying otherwise due to the Galran's history. He also shared with the team that Zarkon was once the Black Lion Paladin and that Allura knew it but didn't mention it to them. But Haggar defended her lover by reminding them about what would happen if they even tried to speak ill of her Allura.

Haggar also revealed that it was because Zarkon was the original Paladin, he had a connection with the Black Lion that was still so powerful enough that he was using his Druids magic to track it down from anywhere in the universe, though she was worried that he may have found some other way to track them down through her, due to her being his high priestess and adviser for 10'000 years.

Using the coordinates found in his robotic arm by Pidge, Shiro and the team headed to the Thaldycon system, despite Allura protesting against it but Haggar eased her lover's worries by reminding her that she would be here if anything went wrong.

When they got there, they found a wasteland of Xanthorium clusters, where the castle/ship was invaded by a Galra ninja, who backed down after seeing Shiro's arm and revealed himself to be Ulaz, who was immediately taken to a cell by Haggar and Allura. Ulaz quickly recognized Haggar by hearing her voice and seeing the red marks on her. While he was shocked at seeing her with the Voltron team, he quickly turned his attention to more important things.

The Galra ninja revealed that he was part of the Blade of Marmora, a Galra resistance group. And he revealed that there was a hidden outpost right in front of the clusters, in a hidden pocket of space-time. After some persuasion from Shiro and Haggar using her magic, they learned he was telling the truth. After entering the space-time cloak, powerc by a gravity generator, they saw the Communication Outpost. The Paladins went inside the base with Ulaz, with Allura and Haggar staying behind with Coran. Lance wanted to remain in the castle to 'protect' Allura but quickly changed his mind because of the death threatening glare he got from the Altean lovers and because he was afraid of what Haggar would do to him. While at the Outpost, Ulaz revealed that there were agents inside Zarkon's ranks, one of which helped them escape when they freed Allura by sabotaging the shield, allowing them to escape. He also gave them a bit of information that there was a Blade of Marmora headquarters and that he knew that other people from Earth were captured and would send the records to the castle.

But before Ulaz could tell them anything else, one of Zarkon's mechanical beasts showed up. The Galron ninja gave Shiro a chip that contained the location of the Blade of Marmora headquarters, but told them not to go there until they knew how to keep Zarkon from tracking them.

After the Robeast disabled the space pocket cloak, by drawing in the clusters and firing its big laser, the team formed Voltron and despite putting up a good fight and Allura and Haggar helping by firing its laser and Haggar using her magic to increase the laser's power, the Robeast still kept fighting until Ulaz sacrificed himself to save the team by flying inside the mechanical beast and making the gravity generator fall in on itself, making the beast blow up, taking Ulaz with it, much to Shiro and Keith's sadness and even Allura and Haggar sympathized with them, due to being reminded that the princess's lover was Zarkon's high priestess and if she could betray Zarkon, then possibly others inside the Galra ranks could as well.

1 day later, Haggar told Shiro to forge a stronger bond with the Black Lion as it would be crucial to decreasing Zarkon's ways of tracking them, which he successfully did, despite having an intense battle with Zarkon in a mental and spiritual plain that ended with the Black Lion saving Shiro because after being reminded that a bond between Lion and its Paladin was about the mutual trust and respect for each other and not about power as Zarkon believed it to be. After the battle was over, Haggar sensed that Zarkon's bond with the Black Lion was severely weakened, which would make it harder for him to track them, though Haggar was still worried that Zarkon could still find them, through her.

**A few days later**

Allura and Haggar had just woken up together after spending some time together on a date. They looked at each other and shared a sweet good morning kiss. "Did you enjoy your sleep, my lovely princess?"

"With you sleeping beside me every night now, I always sleep peacefully and happily." Allura said with a smile as she traced her Haggar's red marks with her fingers, making the ex high priestess smile before she kissed the tip of them gently.

"How about we have a little breakfast before we do anything else, my beautiful princess? A great breakfast in bed always made me happy when we had our sleepovers." Haggar suggested, wanting to relive a good memory with her princess.

"Of course, my love. I have the perfect breakfast in mind for a good morning." Allura said before she pressed a button on her nightstand, brought up a breakfast menu and quickly selected the perfect Altean breakfast that she and her Haggar loved when they live on their home planet.

After eating their food and taking separate showers, the 2 lovers went to the bridge where Coran greeted them before they heard the Paladins making repairs to their primary ship: with Hunk and Lance completely clueless to what they were supposed to do until Pidge immediately knew what was needed in order to repair the ship's connection to the castle defenses.

While listening in to the Paladins from the castle, Haggar asked with a bit of annoyance while turning to her beloved. "Where did you find these jokers? Not counting Pidge."

Allura answered her lover honestly while holding her hands. "They come from a planet called Earth."

Coran added sarcastically. "Although Keith did mention to the Princess and I, that in Lance's case however, he was found left in a basket with a note saying and I quote: I'm stupid and an idiot on it."

Before they could board the ship, they noticed the 'snowball like spores' and Lance, being the idiot of the team, started a 'snowball fight' with the rest of the team, much to Haggar's annoyance. While the others were goofing around, Pidge noticed that the objects weren't really snowballs and were more like spores and containing some sort of message and stated she could decipher it back at the castle. After returning to the castle and a few short hours of deciphering the code, Pidge had informed her teammates and Allura that the code was actually an SOS coming from a planet called Olkarion, claiming that the Galran Empire had attacked and enslaved their home planet.

Haggar stated with a look of hate on her face as she knew that Zarkon would go after them. "That doesn't really surprise me."

Allura asked her lover as she touched her cheek. "What do you mean, Haggar?"

The ex high priestess answered her princess and lover. "The Olkari are known wizards with scientific and engineering skills, able to create bio-mechanical creations through their bond and connection to nature itself."

The Paladins were amazed by the powers the native people of Olkari possessed, especially Pidge due to her tech junkie nature. Shiro asked with curiosity. "Haggar, what could Zakron possibly want the Okari for?"

Haggar answered honestly for the Paladin team leader. "Zakron needs them to construct an energy weapon, powerful enough to damage anyone who stands in his way, even your Lions individually and even combined as Voltron."

Allura and the Paladins were shocked at that revelation: if the Galran Empire had finished building that weapon, not even Voltron would be powerful enough to stop it and feared the second scenario: once the Olkari had served their purpose, Zakron's forces would kill them the other innocent Olkari while most likely keeping their top engineers as slaves to build even more powerful weapons.

"Pidge, upload the planet's coordinates into the navigation system. We're going to free the Olkari and drive the Galra off their planet." Haggar told her new Earth friend, making her do just that.

"Suit up, guys." Shiro told his team and friends, making them nod...but not before Allura made a last minute change of plans.

The princess stated. "Just a moment, Shiro."

"What's the matter, Princess?"

Allura stated something that shocked Shiro and his entire team, with the exception of Pidge as she was starting to get closer to the Princess and her lover. "Haggar and I had an important discussion while you and your team were gone this morning, Shiro...and she requested to join your team on this mission."

Shiro started off. "Whoa, we don't think..."

"No way!" Lance added.

"Not a chance!" Added Hunk

Keith shocked them both, Lance greatly, as he agreed with them both. "Absolutely not!"

Allura stated firmly while trying to keep her anger in check. "Haggar has insights on the Galran Empire that could be useful and she deserves a chance to prove her trustworthiness to the team."

"I agree with Allura and Haggar, guys. Haggar's been a great help to us ever since she got here. She did help us fight Zarkon's Robeast and helped Shiro form a stronger bond with his Lion that decreased Zarkon's chances of finding us tenfold. And besides all that, me and her have bonded. Not as much as the strong bond that she and Allura have, but still we bonded." Pidge said as she patted Haggar's shoulder, agreeing with her female Altean friends.

"Of course you agree with them, Pidge, you've agreed with them ever since they took their make up for lost time trip." Coran said with an annoyed look, knowing that Pidge would agree with them because she was the only female here besides them.

"Look Paladins...I've done a lot of horrible things when I served Zakron: things that I wish I could forget and take back, conquering planets and killing innocent people who begged for their lives. I deserve a chance to make things right...please let me make things right." Haggar said while trying to keep herself from doing what she did when the male Paladins tried to deny her and her princess their long overdue first date.

Shiro and the Paladins stared surprised at Haggar wishing to redeem herself for all the horrible things she had done in the past while serving Zakron and his empire. After a few moments of silence, Shiro stated softly. "Get on the ship, Haggar."

Keith asked his team leader. "Shiro..are you sure about this?"

The team leader answered. "If there's one thing that I learned while growing up as a kid, is that everyone deserves a second chance. Plus, if Allura trusts Haggar enough to let her live in the castle with her and help us, that's good enough for me."

The other Paladins, except Pidge, were still a bit uneasy with letting Haggar accompany them on their mission, but knew to trust both Shiro's and Allura's judgment. But before they left, Allura asked for a moment alone with Haggar, which the Paladins and Coran agreed to and gave them a moment.

Knowing what her princess lover was about to say, Haggar took her hands and said. "I'll be alright, my love. The Paladins and I will return to you alive."

Allura stated with worry while softly bringing her hands up to Haggar's face and they leaned in, with their foreheads pressed together. "I have no doubts that you'll return to me alive, my darling. I'm just worried about what will happen if one of Zakron's most trusted generals manages to capture you..."

Haggar silenced her Allura's fears and stated gently. "That will never happen, my precious Allura. I will never allow us to be separated ever again." They 2 lovers sealed the vow with a searing and passionate kiss until they separated and were nose to nose and smiled lovingly at each other before Haggar reluctantly joined the Paladins in their ship.

After boarding the ship and heading to Olkarion, Shiro asked Haggar if she knew about the Galan general in charge of enslaving the Olkari's and she gave them all the information they needed. "His name is Commander Branko, a textbook sadist who enjoys torturing people and before he became a commander, Branko was Zakron's personal 'interrogator', torturing the prisoners they captured for any useful information and due Zakron liking Branko's methods...he was prime leadership material. But now he's exiled from the main fleet and if he gets that weapon to Zarkon, he'll more than likely just take the weapon and possibly welcome Branko back to his fleet...or kill him." Hunk, Lance and Pidge were horrified after learning what kind of monster Branko was...while Keith and Shiro were simply angered and were more determined to bring Branko down. She also told the Paladins about the planet's metal: how it can adapt to any attack and to be careful.

They got onto the planet and the Paladins got into their Lion's while Haggar piloted the ship. The ex high priestess informed them that the distress signal was coming from the forests, much to Pidge's disappointment. "Why can't we get distress signals from a cool place? I hate the outdoors. Nothing but sunburn and poison oak."

"I wouldn't complain this much, my friend. You may learn something out here today. I studied about the Olkari in my school and learned that they could make anything out of metal to all things in nature." Haggar said with a smile, thinking her new tech friend would be delighted to hear that she'd learned about the Olkarians abilities.

Suddenly 6 arrows shot the Lions and the ship before green beams came out of them and brought them to the ground, along with the ship where many Olkari prepared for battle as 1 of them stepped up and took off her hood. "Could it be? Voltron?" She asked with surprise.

The green Lion opened and Pidge came out holding a tube with a spore inside it. "We got your distress signal." The green Paladin said as the rest of the Voltron team and Haggar got out of their Lions and jumped down to the Olkari.

"Oh praise Lubos." The 1 known as Ryner said with a happy smile, making the rest of her race say the same thing before she noticed Haggar. "And who might this be?"

"This is Haggar, the long lost friend of Princess Allura. But she's recently been helping us fight the Galra." Shiro said politely while introducing Haggar.

"A friend of the Altean princess? How can that be? I'd heard stories about her being in stasis for 10'000 years, but I never thought that any other Altean survived Zarkon's genocide." Ryner wondered, telling the Paladins what she'd heard about Zarkon's genocide of Altea.

Haggar began to get a bit frightened about how the Olkari would react to knowing about her past but she knew that she couldn't let fear hold her back if she wanted to prove herself to Allura and Voltron. "What I'm about to show you won't be to your liking, Noble Olkari, but I have to show you everything you need to know about my past. Whatever reaction you have will be more than understandable and I'll take whatever you think of me without contempt." She said as she did the same magic she used on Allura to let Ryner see into her memories. From her childhood with Allura, reluctantly leaving Altea by her parents to further her education, to Zarkon eventually kidnapping her and forcing her to keep experimenting with the Quintessence under the threat of Allura's life and eventually having her memories erased and serving Zarkon for 10'000 years to eventually retaining her memories of Allura and defecting from the Galra empire and joining the Voltron team and their recent battle with Zarkon's Robeast.

When it was finally done, Haggar let go and Ryner looked at the ex high priestess with sympathetic eyes. "Oh my Lubos. All the things you went through under that monster. Haggar, I'm...so very sorry." She said as she gently hugged her.

"You... don't hate me?" Haggar said with a very surprised face as she hadn't expected anyone else to have the same reaction as her Allura did.

"Of course not, Haggar. Zarkon forced you to continue your experimenting, despite begging him to stop. You only did what you did to protect princess Allura and when your memories were erased, Zarkon took advantage of it and turned you into what he wanted you to be. But now that you've regained your lost memories and have defected from that monster, you're finally free to be who you were always meant to be." Ryner said softly as she separated from the Altean sorceress.

"Thank you, Ryner. I only hope that the rest of the universe will think of it like that as well, though I highly doubt it." Haggar said with a relieved smile.

"Don't worry, Haggar, if other planets don't see your past that way, just remember that you have us, the people who will accept you, and of course, Allura." Pidge said, reminding her friend that even if other planets won't react to Haggar's past the same way as Ryner did, she always had the Voltron team and Allura.

"Thank you so much, Pidge." Haggar said with a smile as she shared a friendly hug with the Green Paladin.

Ryner then took the Voltron team and Haggar and showed them their home in the forest while explaining to them how they were forced from their city. "When the Galra attacked, only a few of us escaped the cities."

"How long have you been like this?" Shiro asked.

"Many years." She answered. "But, as you can see, our people never stopped evolving. Instead, we adapted our skills to the environment." She added, showing them a city that they'd built from their powers in the forest trees, much to Pidge's and Hagger's amazement.

"That's no surprise to me, Ryner. During my studies in my old life, I was sent to Olkari to learn how to use your people's connection with nature to build my own. It wasn't easy at first but I was a fast learner. I even experimented with the power to adapt my skills to nature as well and it worked out so well, my teachers wanted me to teach my own students one day." Haggar explained, having remembered that memory by just seeing an Olkari build an insect from sticks and leaves and using his powers to make it fly like it was a living, breathing creature.

"Yes, now I remember. Some of my teachers told me about an Altean who taught her own class to adapt their skills to the environment and some of us were even taught the same thing. But I never thought that I would ever meet here in my lifetime." Ryner said with a surprised smile, having remembered that she'd heard of an Altean who taught her own Olkarion class to adapt their skills to nature.

"Whoa. Haggar taught her own class when she was a student here and that's where the idea of working with nature's designs came from?" Pidge asked with an excited smile.

"Of course, she taught her students that nature's designs are superior to anything that we could build. And her students taught that very same lesson from generation to generation until eventually our generation arrived." Ryner said, having remembered in her studies that nature was far superior to any machine.

"No offense but I'll take my computer over a tree any day." Pidge said while holding her hands up, not wanting to offend Haggar or Ryner.

"None taken, Pidge." Haggar said as she patted her friend's shoulder.

"You guys can talk about science later. Right now, we need to assemble Voltron and take down Branko." Shiro told them.

"It's not that simple, I'm afraid. The Galra have our leader...Lubos." Ryner said with sadness, making the other Olkari say their King's name in the same tone. "If you attack, who knows what they'll do to him."

"We'll just have to rescue him." Shiro said.

Ryner took them to another area and saw some Olkari use their power to form blasters out of their flowers, surprising the Paladins and exciting Pidge, who Haggar smiled at as she rubbed her friend's hair, making her giggle before Ryner used her power to transform a part of a tree into a suit of battle armor.

"Whoa. Can I have 1 of those?" Keith asked, wanting to know if he could have 1 of those as well.

"Of course. You can each have 1." Ryner answered as she presented the Paladins with headbands that could allow them to form the same armor while explaining how to do it. "Now, the key to operating it is understanding that the nanocellulose response to electoral impulses from the neural pathways connected through this. Of course the commands need to come as binary coded messages."

Pidge put 1 on, went to one of the trees and concentrated before she did the same thing the Olkari did and made another battle suit, making Haggar smiled at her friend. "_I think you're starting to understand, Pidge."_

"Yes, excellent." Ryner said with an impressed smile.

"I think mine is just a tree." Hunk said, seeing that he or his other friends couldn't do the same thing as Pidge did.

"You must have a deep connection with nature." Ryner told Pidge, thinking that the green Paladin had the same connection with nature that she and her kind had.

"Pidge is our resident tech expert." Shiro explained to the Olkari female.

"Well that explains it. Like me and my kind, you understand that,cat the deepest level, trees, metal, you, me. We're all made up of the same cosmic dust. All arranged by the laws of mathematics." Ryner said with a smile, thinking that Pidge was just like her and her kind.

"And that means you'll have to give the others a ride, Pidge." Haggar explained to her friend.

"But what about you, Haggar?" Pidge asked.

"I'll pilot the ship and cloak it to recon the base. The Galran defenses will be very strong. Once I've done that, we can form a plan to rescue the king. Ryner, come with me. I'll need your help to identify the weapon they're building." Haggar answered before getting into the ship with Ryner.

They headed to the Galra base and checked the defenses, which were impenetrable from the ground due to how many soldiers there were. But found a small opening in the roof of the main building.

Suddenly they saw a giant cube. "Ryner, is that…?" Haggar asked with a look of recognition on her face as she'd seen 1 of those before.

"Yes. It's an Olkari cube. We used to play with them as children, but I haven't seen 1 of that size in many years and I know that only King Lubos could have designed 1 of that size. They must have forced him to reveal his designs and redesigned it as a weapon. And from the looks of it, it looks like it's almost finished, if not finished already." Ryner explained, fearing the worst for her people and the universe if Zarkon got his hands on a self replicating like that.

"Let's get back to the others, they have to know about this. That cube can't leave this planet." Haggar said before they headed back to the others and informed them of the cube.

Once they were all filled in, Shiro told them of his plan to rescue the Olkari King. "First, we'll need to get to the top of the tower. Since the Green Lion has stealth capabilities, Pidge will be our drop ship. You'll take Keith, Lance, Hunk and me to the roof and drop back to a safe position. After the drop, we'll use a scanner to find any Olkari biorhythms. We find King Lubos, get him out and then Haggar and Voltron can destroy the cube before it gets off the planet. Haggar, while we're rescuing Lubos, you use your ship to free the prisoners and then bring them back here."

The others understood the plan and proceeded as Shiro had instructed. Pidge got them to the tower undetected and the other Paladins dropped in before using their scanner, quickly finding Lubos' location.

They quickly headed to where he was while avoiding any Galra soldiers and heard a voice coming from the other side of a big door. And from the sounds of it, it seemed like Lubos was crying in pain but when they opened the door, they saw the Olkari King... watching a program while eating snacks and another Olkari who was in shackles beside him, looking at the floor.

"Uh...King Lubos?" Shiro asked with shock, making the king look at them before alerting the Galra base, making the lights turn on before several Galra soldiers and Branko himself entered the room.

"Looks like someone came to 'rescue' you, Lubos." The sadistic Galra commander said in a mocking tone, revealing the the 'king was a traitor to his people.

The Paladins looked at the 'king' with disgust. "You turned your back on your people to save your own skin." Shiro said with hate for the cowardly Olkari.

"I'm doing this _for _my people. They wanted to fight the Galra, but they're too powerful. They could destroy us." Lubos said, defending his actions.

"So you helped enslave your people to build a super weapon?!" Lance yelled with disgust, beginning to have this disgraceful King for helping the Galra enslave his own people, just to save himself.

"Don't make me the bad guy, he forced me to do it!"

"Did he _force-feed_ you too?!" Lance countered.

The other Olkari suddenly pushed his coward of a King toward the Paladins and Keith caught him. You betrayed our people! I won't live this life anymore!" He said, tired if serving his disgrace of a king.

A second later, a big laser blast, shot by Pidge, blew up the wall to make an opening for the team. "Engage the cube and take down the Lion!" Branko ordered, making his men shoot at the team but they avoided the blasts before getting on the green Lion with the disgrace of a king and his abused servant.

While this was happening, Haggar used her ship to blast the Galra soldiers and loaded the prisoners onto the vessel before they saw the cube getting ready to launch. "The cube's operational! We've gotta get to the other Lions!" Shiro told his friends.

"On it!" Pidge said before she flew her Lion back to the others as fast as she could. Haggar followed them after doing something that she thought would be helpful in taking care of Branko.

When they got to the other Olkari, Haggar saw Shiro throw Lubos to his knees, confusing her and Ryner. "Pidge, what's going on?" Haggar asked.

"I'll answer that, Haggar. While the Olkari starved, this disgrace of a king was well taken care of. He willingly helped Branko build that cube. Willingly helped enslave his own people." Shiro answered, revealing Lubos' true nature to Haggar, Ryner and her people.

"He did what?! He helped them?! HE HELPED THEM ENSLAVE HIS OWN PEOPLE WILLINGLY?!" The former high priestess yelled out before using her powers to lift the cowardly King into the air and begin to squeeze him very painfully, making him yell in pain like the coward he is.

Pidge knew she'd have to stop her new friend before she went to far and quickly grabbed the arm holding up Lubos. "Haggar, wait, don't do anything crazy!" She pleaded.

"And why shouldn't I, Pidge? He willingly helped Branko enslave his people and build a superweapon that could potentially destroy even Voltron, just to save his own hide! Why shouldn't I make this bastard suffer the way he let his people suffer?!" Haggar asked as she squeezed a bit harder.

"You're right, he does deserve to suffer for what he did, but I think killing him will be letting him off too easy. Besides, think of Allura and what she'd think." Pidge said gently, knowing that killing the disgraceful King would be letting him off too easy and reminding her friend of what Allura would think of this.

Haggar wanted to kill this disgrace of a king for what he did to his people, unlike her who only did what she did to protect her Allura and her people, even though it cost her everything in the end. After a few seconds, Haggar looked at the 'king' and brought him down to look him in the eyes. "You are very lucky that my friend was here, otherwise I would have killed you. But when Branko is taken care of, you'll wish you were dead." She said darkly before throwing him down hard.

Ryner glared at Lubos. "How could you?"

"I-i" He tried to say, but Haggar used her power to shut his mouth as she didn't want to hear any pathetic excuse from him.

Ryner looked at Haggar before nodding and turning to her people. "It's time to rise against the Galra and free our people!" She said, making her people cheer.

The Paladins got into their Lions and formed Voltron before heading to the weaponized cube and attacking it with their lasers but the cube just absorbed them before firing them right back at them but they successfully avoided the attacks with Haggar casting spells to shield the Lions. The Paladins tried using their sword to cut the cube but it only made more cubes to fight, causing the team to separate their Lions, much to Branko's delight as he would potentially have his weapon and Voltron to present to Zarkon.

"How can we beat that thing it just fires our attacks back at us and just makes more of itself after we cut in half?!" Pidge wondered.

That was when she heard Haggar's voice in her head, as she had contacted her friend telepathically. _"Pidge...remember what I told you and your team about the metal substance on this planet: it can adapt to handle any sort of attack. The only way to destroy that weapon is by doing something unexpected."_

"_But how can I do that if it'll only absorb the attack?_" Pidge asked her friend in her mind.

_"You have to form a stronger bond with your Lion, Pidge, one that is spiritually stronger. Remember what Ryner told you: me, Allura, you, the other Paladins, the Lion, the Olkari, we're all made of the same essence." _Haggar said in her friend's mother mind, reminding her that everything living thing was all made of the same cosmic dust.

Pidge then concentrated very hard to bond spiritually with her Lion while remembering what Haggar and Ryner told her. "Come on, girl, I need you." She said to her Lion.

After realizing she would have to learn to improvise and not always rely on scientific methods, Pidge's Lion had unlocked a new power that allowed their team to destroy the cubes from the inside by having vines grow out of them, completely shutting them down before they fell to the ground, completely useless.

Haggar saw that Ryner and her people were effortlessly taking back their city and that Branko's ship was trying to flee the planet but she activated the secret bomb she placed on the ship, combining it with her magic to make sure that it blew up the entire ship when it was far enough in the sky, killing all the Galra inside, especially Branko.

**Later after the battle**

After the Galra were defeated, the Olkari took back their city and Ryner thanked the Voltron team and Haggar for all their help. But Haggar presented an Olkari crown that she'd made with her magic and put it on Ryner's head before taking a knee and bowing, with the Paladins doing the same. "The Olkari still need a leader, and you're the perfect candidate for being the queen they need."

Ryner smiled as her people had yelled out her name, hailing her as their new queen. "ALL HAIL QUEEN RYNER!"

"Thank you, my friends. And I give you my word as the new queen of Olkarion that our people will stand by your side when the time comes to take the fight to Zarkon." The new Olkari Queen told her new friends.

"What about Lubos?" Lance asked, wondering what would become of the disgraced King.

"He'll be spending the rest of his life in prison. He willingly helped the Galra enslave our people and for that, he'll now feel the pain he made us go through." Ryner answered, making Haggar smile. "And Pidge, your bond with the green Lion has grown stronger than ever. Remember that the Olkari spirit resides in you now."

"Thanks. But without Haggar, I never would have been able to unlock my Lion's hidden power." Pidge said with a smile while thanking Haggar for helping her, making the Altean sorceress smile as she rubbed her friend's hair.

After leaving the planet and offering the now queen Ryner their help if the Galran Empire ever returned to Olkarion, Shiro contacted Allura for a mission update: stating that the weapon was destroyed and Brakno was dead...thanks to Haggar, while giving the ex-high priestess a thumbs up and other male Paladins gave her a friendly nod, showing they were wrong about her while Pidge shared a hug with her.

Allura smiled at the sight of her Paladins treating her lover as a friend and ally and said that she would be waiting for their return. When they finally returned, the princess and Haggar took Pidge to their room to tell her everything: how Haggar showed Ryner her past and the Olkari Queen's acceptance of her, to the Olkari Queen revealing that Haggar was a teacher of her own class during her studies, Pidge finding out about her deeper connection with nature, to finding out about Lubos' true nature and what Haggar would have done to him if Pidge hadn't calmed her down, to Haggar helping Pidge bond with her Lion spiritually to help destroy the cube and Haggar blowing up Branko's ship to stop him for good. And finally, to Haggar crowning Ryner as the new queen of the Olkari.

"You know, guys, it's weird. I've always been a tech junkie. It's how I connected to the world, but now I feel connected to everything. I guess Ryner was right. We're all made of the same cosmic dust. And you were right, too, Haggar. I did learn something while I was there... and strengthened my friendship with you." Pidge said before she shared a friendly hug with the Altean princess and the ex high priestess.

After Pidge left the room, Allura and Haggar embraced lovingly and rubbed their noses together. "You did a great thing for the Olkari, my darling. With these victories, we're taking steps to living the life we've dreamed of."

"And once that happens, my love, we'll be together forever and nothing and no one will stop us." Haggar said with a loving smile before they leaned in and shared a burning passionate kiss that lasted for 5 minutes before they changed into their night clothing and turned in for bed, snuggling close together.

**There you go, my friends, the Greening the Cube episode is complete. Next will be the Ark of Taujeer episode, but with Haggar in Keith's place with Allura. Rate and review. See you soon, my friends.**


	4. Ark of Taujeer and Strengthening a Bond

**Chapter 4 Ark of Taujeer and strengthening a bond**

On the hazardous planet of Taujeer, its native people were trying to evacuate. They'd already built a ship that was big enough for all of them to get offworld but a Galron Commander named Morvok and a small number of his men had prevented the local inhabitants from escaping their dying planet: by destroying the left engine to their ark.

Baujal, leader of the planet had been pleading with the greedy Commander to reconsider but was unsuccessful. "You have already taken all our supplies and resources. My people are loaded on that Ark to leave our beloved home. Do not take our only means of escape." He pleaded in a robotic voice.

"You still have 1 engine left, Baujal, not to mention a valuable supply of parts." Morvok said while standing on his hover device. "If your people are strong enough to survive, they will. That is the Galra way." He said before hovering back to his ship.

**Meanwhile at Allura's castle/ship**

Allura, Haggar and the Paladins were still on the run from Zarkon and his empire...with the princess and Shiro baffled while wondering how Zarkon was still tracking them, since it couldn't have been through the Black Lion, as Shiro's bond with it was much stronger than Zarkon's now, thanks to Haggar.

Suddenly Keith spoke. "Maybe it's through me. Zarkon could have imprinted on me during our fight or something."

"No it's not, Keith, he's been obsessed with getting the Black Lion ever since it woke up when you all found it. He couldn't care less about you." Haggar reassured the Red Paladin, knowing Zarkon and his obsession with the Black Lion tall too well.

"Well I don't think it matters now. We're going to take the fight to him soon enough. The Galra have been chasing us from galaxy to Galaxy enough that the last thing they expect is for us to go after them." Shiro told his friends, thinking that with the Galra too used to chasing them, they wouldn't expect to be counterattacked.

While they were pondering, Pidge informed her team that she had put together a new software into the computer: a tracking system to help them avoid being captured by the Galran Empire...and also to ambush any Galran fleets. "Check it out." She said as she showed them her new software, which impressed them. "I also found an SOS single coming from a planet called Taujeer, which is also where the nearest Galra fleet is located."

"Then that's where we're headed. Everyone should get some sleep. Tomorrow, we'll rescue the Taujeerians and take out that Galra fleet." Shiro told everyone, wanting to save the Taujeerians and take down the Galra fleet oppressing them. But wanting to wait until in the morning, as they were all exhausted from being on the run and fighting a number of Galran space fighters to prevent them from reporting theirs, the princess's and Haggar's location back to their lord and master.

While Shiro, Pidge, Lance, Keith and Hunk slept peacefully, not everyone was having a peaceful slumber. In Allura and Haggar's bedroom, the ex-high priestess had whimpered softly to herself in her sleep: as Zarkon was haunting her in her dreams.

**In Haggar's dream**

_The Altean sorceress was running in a pitch black fog, trying to find her Allura. "Allura! Allura, where are you?!" She yelled before purple smoke formed into Zarkon and grabbed her by the throat to look into her eyes._

"_You do not belong with the Altean princess, Haggar, your place is by my side! She will hurt you, lie to you... and eventually betray you. But you can avoid that if you rejoin the Galra Empire." Zarkon said, trying to manipulate Haggar through lies that Allura would eventually betray her._

_"LIER! I WON'T SERVE YOU! NEVER AGAIN!" Haggar yelled as she tried to use her powers to get free but Zarkon was too strong._

_"You will serve me. Rejoin me, Haggar, and I will give you everything that you desire. Simply return to my side and I'll let your precious lover, Princess Allura live...or you watch her die after I crush her annoying human Paladins!"_

_Haggar shouted out while refusing to return to his Empire. "Never! I will never betray my Allura!"_

_"Then you will watch her die after I crush her annoying human Paladins!" Zarkon yelled with anger as he used his bayard to knock her out cold._

**Back in the bedroom**

"Haggar! Haggar, wake up!" Allura said quietly while shaking her beautiful princess gently to wake her, which the Altean sorceress did with a gasp of shock, panting heavily while Allura held her lover in her arms. "Haggar, my love, it's alright. You're safe, I'm here."

Haggar countered softly. "No...it's not, Allura. And as long as I'm near you or the others, none of you will ever be safe."

Allura asked softly with concern and worry. "Haggar, what are you talking about? What happened while we were sleeping?"

The ex-high priestess answered her beloved honestly. "I know how Zarkon has been tracking us, Allura. He hasn't been tracking the Black Lion...he's been tracking me. He just contacted me...through my dreams."

"What did he say?"

"He...He wants me to return to his Empire...or he'll kill you after he's defeated Shiro and his team. Zarkon won't stop until he has me back at his side and the Black Lion under his control. As long as I remain here, you and your Paladins are in even more danger than you were before." She said softly before bringing her and her lover's foreheads together. "I should just...leave now while I can. I'll go to the farthest parts of the universe so Zarkon will only focus on finding me. If I'm right, he'll be too distracted with finding me that he'll be vulnerable enough for Voltron and the Blade of Marmora to finally defeat him for good."

"And what if he gets to you, Haggar? He'll surely kill you if he can't turn you back into what he made you." Allura said as tears began forming in her eyes at the thought of what Zarkon would do if he got to Haggar.

"If that does happen, my love, I'm more than willing to take that risk...if it means that you'll be safe, along with Pidge and the others." Haggar said softly and sadly, willing to die if it meant her lover, her new friend and her team could live to finally defeat Zarkon for good and finally bring peace to the universe.

Allura shook her head as she held Haggar tightly, not wanting to lose her one and only love again. "No Haggar, don't talk like that. I don't want you to leave. I lost you once and I can't go through that pain again. My life would never be complete without you in it. But it's not just me, think of Pidge and the others. They're finally starting to accept you and Pidge is starting to see you as 1 of her best friends, besides the other people you've helped."

Haggar stated softly as she returned the embrace. "I don't want to lose you or Pidge or the others either, my love...but I can't see or think of another option."

Allura stated after placing a loving kiss on her Haggar's forehead. "There must be a way, my darling princess. We just have to find it."

That was when a thought crossed her mind and Haggar stated softly. "Maybe there is a way, my precious Allura."

Her princess asked softly. "What is it?"

Her beloved answered softly. "There's a planet whose inhabitants are powerful mystics that specialize in severing and strengthening spiritual/mental links."

Allura asked as she immediately knew what her lover was getting at. "You think these mystics can severe Zarkon's mental link through your mind?"

Haggar answered softly. "It might be...what Pidge told me that humans say 'a long shot', but it's worth a try."

Allura would state, as she and Haggar knew that it was worth a try, especially if it meant her lover would be free from Zarkon's mental connection through her dreams and that Haggar wouldn't have to leave the group and more importantly: they wouldn't have to be separated again. "If that's what it will take to assure that Zarkon doesn't get to you and we won't be separated ever again, then that's what we'll do. Tomorrow, we'll tell the others and head to that planet to severe Zarkon's link to your mind...and strengthen ours."

The two lovers shared a sweet tender kiss before Haggar wiped her princess's tears away before they laid back down, holding each other in their arms to sleep a while longer, as it was still too early and they would need their rest for their mission tomorrow. "_Zarkon, tomorrow your link through me will be forever severed and I will finally be free of you." _Haggar thought to herself before finally falling asleep.

**The next day**

After morning had arrived, Allura and Haggar gathered the Paladins to inform them of their own mission. "Haggar and I aren't going with you all. We're heading on a mission of our own."

"We're heading to a planet whose inhabitants are mystics who can help severe Zarkon's mental connection to me." Haggar added as she took her lover's hand and intertwined their fingers together.

Before the Paladins and Coran could object, Allura explained the situation to them. "Zarkon contacted Haggar in her dreams last night and gave her an ultimatum: either she returns to him and rejoins his empire...or she'll be forced to watch me die after he's defeated you all and retaken control of the Black Lion."

The Paladins and Coran were horrified after learning about the ultimatum Zarkon gave Haggar: either return to his side or he would kill them and the princess while forcing her to watch. "Then what can we do to help, Allura?" Pidge asked, wanting to help her friends.

"You all can go to Taujeer and save its people, Pidge. With Zarkon's connection with the Black Lion weakened, he won't be able to track you as easily. But as long Zarkon is mentally linked to me, he could still track us down. I have to severe the link now while I can, otherwise I'll only be putting everyone in danger more than we already are." Haggar said as she rubbed Pidge's hair.

"Forgive me for this, but wouldn't it be easier for Haggar to just leave and get as far away from us as she can...at least until Zarkon's defeated?" Keith suggested, thinking that would be easier for the group.

But this only made Allura mad as she yelled out. "No! Haggar is not leaving the group! I've already lost her once, and I won't go through that pain ever again, even if that means I have to leave with her! If she leaves, I leave as well and Voltron and the Blade of Marmora can defeat Zarkon without us!"

Haggar wanted to protest but decided not to say anything until she and Allura were alone. But what Allura said still played in her mind. If she really did leave the group and went to the furthest parts of the universe, would Allura really abandon Voltron and the chance to defeat Zarkon for good, just for her and their 2nd chance at their happiness and love?

After hearing how much Allura cared for and valued Haggar and with Allura's threat, Shiro asked the ex-high priestess. "Haggar, are you sure these mystics can severe Zarkon's mental link through you?"

"I'm positive these mystics can help cleanse me, Shiro. Since these mystics I speak of are the ones who taught me the spell I performed to strengthen your bond with the Black Lion." Haggar answered honestly while still thinking about what Allura said.

"Alright. While you and the princess go the mystics...the others and I will go to Taujeer." Shiro said, wanting to keep Allura and Haggar around.

But before the 2 lovers could leave, Pidge ran up to them and hugged them tightly. "Be careful, you 2, Zarkon's probably working on strengthening the mental link so he can get inside your head anytime he wants." She said, knowing that Zarkon would do anything to get his hands on Haggar.

The 2 lovers hugged Pidge back before Haggar spoke. "We'll be careful, Pidge. When we come back, you can tell us about your mission and we'll tell you about ours."

Allura and Haggar had took the ship they used for their date to travel to the planet and seek out the mystics to help free the ex-high priestess from Zarkon's mental link. While Haggar and Allura were traveling to the planet, Allura put the ship on autopilot, sat in Haggar's lap, wrapped her arms around her neck and passionately kissed her before the purple skinned Altean spoke out about what her lover said back at the castle. "Allura, about what you told your Paladins before... about you... abandoning Voltron and leaving to the furthest parts of the universe...just to be with me and have our 2nd chance at our love and happiness, did you... really mean it?"

"Of course I did, my precious and beautiful princess, I meant every word. I know it's wrong, but I have waited for 10'000 years for us to live our lives together and right now I don't care what it takes. I love you more than anything in the universe and with all my heart. I'd rather live as an ordinary citizen with you then to live as a princess without you in my life." Allura admitted, rather wanting to be an ordinary citizen living in the far reaches of the universe with her 1 and only love then live as royalty without Haggar in her life.

"I-i never thought you loved me that much, especially if you'd rather abandon your royalty and run away with me to the farthest part of the universe. What would your father think if he were alive today? What do you think he'd say if he heard you say that to him and what he'd do if he had found out about us and our love? I know it may not be like him, but he'd probably disown and exile you." Haggar wondered, wanting to know what King Alfor would think of his daughter being in love with another female Altean, as Allura had meant saying that she'd rather be with her 1 true love rather than with any possible suitor he'd try to arrange her to marry if Zarkon hadn't attacked.

"If it was like it was 10'000 years ago and father disapproved of us, I wouldn't care what he did to me. And if he were alive and still disapproved, I still wouldn't care and would have still run away with you. As long as I have you, my 1 and only love, I don't need anything else in this universe." Allura admitted honestly before kissing her Haggar passionately, showing her devotion to her purple skinned princess, making them both shed tears as they continued to kiss.

**Meanwhile with the Paladins and Coran**

They'd gotten the castle to Taujeer and the Paladins boarded their Lions while Coran kept a lookout for any Galra ships that would be in the area. Shiro got out of his Lion and walked up to Baujal, who greeted them. "Thank goodness you're here. I am Baujal, leader of the Taujeerians. The Galra destroyed our engines and left. They've taken everything. We just get off the planet before it dissolves completely."

"How did this happen?"

"We've known for years that our planet would lose its outer layer." The Taujeerian leader answered.

"Like a snake shedding its skin?" Lance asked, thinking that the planet was shedding itself to become a more healthy planet like a snake that sheds its skin.

"Yeah. Except the next layer is acid." Pidge said, seeing that the acid was the cause of the surface shedding.

"The plan was to evacuate the planet's population to our nearest moon, where we've built a colony to wait out the shedding process, so we got to higher ground and built that Ark. But the Galra came and attacked, led by a vile Commander named Morvok. He robbed us of vital resources and left us with only 1 operational engine, stranding us here." Baujal answered, telling the Paladins about Morvok and what he did.

"You're not stranded anymore, we will save your people." Shiro assured the Taujeerian leader.

"No time to waist, guys, let's get started before the planet sheds completely." Keith told his friends.

The Paladins immediately worked to repair and stabilize the slowly dissolving rocks that were melting through the acid lakes. Pidge and Lance bought Hunk, Shiro and Keith the time they needed to repair the damaged ship: by stitching the rocks with her vine power and freezing the stitches with Lance's freezing power while Hunk worked on fixing the engines enough to get the Taujeerians airborne, which he did.

"Guys, we've got unwanted company!" Keith informed his team and friends, seeing Morvok's ship approaching before it fired at the Ark, destabilizing it.

"Hunk, take the yellow Lion and hold up the Ark! If it falls into the acid, the Taujeerians are doomed!" Shiro told his friend, making him do just that. "Lance, Keith, Pidge, we need to draw the Galra's firepower. Coran, we need you here now! Attack the Galra's ship!"

_"I'm on my way!" _Coran said through communications before he piloted the castle close to the Galra ship.

But Morvok was overly excited. "Oh I've hit the jackpot! Zarkon will no doubt reward me most handsomely for this. We may actually capture Voltron. I could get transferred back to the Hub. Maybe Zarkon will invite me to sit in his box at the gladiator matches, the ultimate honor!"

The Lions were moving at great speed to avoid the firepower while also blasting the ship. Morvok ordered his troops to fire the Ion Cannon at the Ark but Pidge and Lance used their Lion's Jawblades to attack the ship's hull while Shiro used his to disable the guidance system before Keith cut the Ion Cannon completely off, making it fall into the acid before Coran fired the castle's weapons on the Galra ship.

Hunk tried his absolute best to hold up the Ark but was slowly beginning to ship. The Yellow Lion, sensing that its Paladin needed extra help, unlocked it's latest power: Armored Claws, which used boosters to help keep the Ark from falling into the acid. The other Lions then joined Hunk and successfully put the Ark upright. The Paladins then formed Voltron and formed their sword, which the Lions told their pilots to form a bigger and stronger version of.

"Sir, our weapons are knocked out completely. Should we retreat?" A Galra soldier asked his Commander.

"Never! Aim the ship at the Ark! We will take it out ourselves! To die for the empire is the highest honor imaginable! Vrepit Sa!"

"Vrepit Za!" The pilots said at the same time.

"Prepare my escape pod." Morvok ordered the soldier behind him, revealing his cowardly nature secretly. But it was too late for the cowardly Commander as Voltron cut the cruiser in half lengthwise with a bigger and stronger version of its sword, making it explode with Morvok inside of it, staring with a horrified look on his face before his fiery death.

Voltron then used its strength to get the Taujeerians to safety and to their nearest moon like they planned. After getting the Taujeerians' gratitude, the Paladins and Coran left the system. "I wonder how Allura and Haggar are doing right now?" Pidge asked with concern for her female Altean friends.

"Well, if things go well for them, hopefully they'll be back in a few hours...I hope." Shiro assured her friend with a worried look on his face.

**Meanwhile with Allura and Haggar**

The two lovers had arrived at the planet the ex-high priestess spoke of and after landing their ship, they were greeted by a small tribe of natives, whom seemed to recognize Haggar through her facial features and welcomed her to their planet. "Welcome back to our planet, Haggar. Our people have told every generation before ours about you."

Haggar smiled at this before speaking. "I'm glad to hear that your people remember me. And this is Princess Allura, my best friend." She said, wanting to honor her lover's wish to keep their relationship a secret until the time was right.

The natives took a knee and bowed before the Altean princess. "Welcome to our planet, princess Allura, it is a true honor to meet you at last. We've heard of your awakening and the return of Voltron." A female native said with a humble smile.

"Thank you so much. And I'm happy to say that with Voltron's return, Zarkon will finally be defeated and the rest of the universe will finally be able to have true peace without being under a tyrant's rule." Allura said with a smile, knowing that with Voltron's return and Haggar's inside knowledge, Zarkon would finally get what he's long deserved.

"I'm happy to return here, but I have to speak to your village Elder. Could you take us to him, please?" Haggar requested, wanting to severe her link to Zarkon now before he tries to contact her forcefully again.

The natives complied with Haggar's request and took the 2 lovers to the village Elder, who was looking at Haggar with a knowing face, as if he could sense her intentions. "Hello, Haggar, I welcome your return and have sensed your mind. Is it true that the Galra Emperor has a mental link to your mind?"

"Yes, Elder, Zarkon contacted me through my dreams while I slept and that was when I knew that he wouldn't stop until I was forced back to his side. The only way I can prevent that is to severe the link between he and I permanently and you and your mystics are the only ones who can do it. Will you help me?" Haggar requested, wanting the link between her and Zarkon severed permanently to keep him from tracking Voltron, the Paladins and Allura.

"Of course we will, Haggar. 10'000 years ago you helped treat the people of my village, especially the children when they became sick by a life threatening illness and had found a way to cure them and save their lives. And for that selfless deed, we will help you, as a means to repay your debt the way my people promised all those years ago." The Elder humbly said with a smile while revealing Haggar's selfless and Noble deed of saving the village children 10'000 years ago, making Allura smile after hearing the kind act her lover did for the village children.

The Elder quickly gathered his mystics to perform a ceremony to help free Haggar from Zarkon's mental hold over her...while requesting Allura to stay by her Haggar's side the entire time, as the ceremony required the loved one of the person the ritual was being performed on.

Haggar laid down and the mystics gathered around her and performed their magic, which sent a green energy light around the purple skinned Altean before 2 ghost-like hands touched her head as her eyes closed. At the Midway part of the ritual, Haggar began thrashing in pain as her mind was being invaded.

**At Zarkon's ship**

The evil Galra Emperor was using his Druids to get into Haggar's mind and was beginning to feel his link to her weakening. "No!" He yelled.

"Sire, it is it?" 1 of the Druids asked his lord and master.

"My link to Haggar's mind is weakening, I can feel it! She must have found someone to help her fight off my link! I WILL NOT LET HER SLIP THROUGH MY FINGERS!" He yelled before concentrating on getting into Haggar's mind hard.

**In Haggar's mind**

_The Altean sorceress was on Altea, seeing everything exactly the way it was before she'd left the planet, including herself in her 14 year old body. She looked around and began to feel like this was all real. The first thing she saw was the familiar ship that took her offworld, where her parents were waiting for her to enter. _

_"Haggar, come on, we can't be late or your new school will not accept your membership." Haggar's father reminded his daughter. _

_Haggar, with the knowledge of her older self, suddenly realized that she had the chance to finally live the life she wanted with Allura. She looked at the royal palace and back to her parents. Her mother looked at her with and knew what she was thinking...and strangely smiled before nodding to her in acceptance. _

_But her father had a different look. "Young lady, I won't repeat myself, get on the ship now!" _

_Haggar looked at her father and had a look of determination on her face. "No father, I'm not leaving! I'm staying on Altea and I'm going to live with Allura! I'm not leaving her! This plan you have for me…it isn't worth it if I can't be with Allura! I'm going back to Allura and I'm going to tell her I love her and that I'm staying with her!" She yelled before she began to run to the palace to go to Allura_.

_"Haggar, get back here now, young lady! HAGGAR, I SAID GET BACK HERE NOW! YOU'LL LISTEN TO YOUR FATHER, DO YOU HEAR ME?!" Haggar's father yelled before he suddenly disappeared._

_Haggar continued to run until she was at the palace doors and broke the doors down with surprising strength as if they were nothing. She ran past all the Alteans in the palace, including King Alfor himself, who was shocked at seeing her back due to him hearing about her parents' idea of leaving the planet with her. _

_Haggar finally made it to the door that led inside Allura's room and quickly opened it but when she entered, she found that Allura was nowhere to be found before beginning to look for her. "Allura? Allura! Allura, where are you?" She asked while looking for her girlfriend but soon found her... laying on the floor...with blood pouring from her body, making Haggar shocked before her body suddenly turned back into her full grown self. She then saw the body of the 1 she loved and saw that she was laying beside Pidge and her team, but they were all dead and their blood was at Haggar's feet before she heard a familiar voice that she now hated most. _

_"Haggar." The voice of Zarkon said evilly, making Haggar look up at him and seeing his bayard in his hand, dripping blood from the blade. "Do you see now? You were not meant to have any friends or the Altean princess, you were born to SERVE ME! And this is the fate I plan for the Paladins and her... before I kill you... unless you were to rejoin me and take your rightful place as my high priestess."_

_"NEVER! YOU ONLY WANT ME FOR MY POWER! IF I GAVE THAT POWER TO YOU, VOLTRON WILL FALL UNDER YOUR CONTROL AND NO ONE WILL BE LEFT TO OPPOSE YOU!" Haggar yelled at the top of her lungs as she glowed dark purple and fired a stunning blast at Zarkon, which he easily defected before grabbing her throat._

_"Exactly! This universe is mine and it will continue to be mine for all eternity! And with Voltron under my control, no one will ever oppose me again! This isn't a request, Haggar. You will rejoin me and help me regain what is rightfully mine... unless you don't want to know what happened to your parents." Zarkon said with an evil smile, not denying anything Haggar said and using her parents' deaths to manipulate her._

_"I don't care, Zarkon, I JUST WANT YOU OUT OF MY HEAD!" Haggar yelled as she tried to elbow Zarkon's arm to make him let go but he just squeezed harder, choking her. _

_Suddenly, an astral projection of Allura had appeared before them and she encouraged her lover to fight off Zarkon's hold over her. "Haggar, my darling princess, fight him. Don't let him take you. You've changed, you're not what he made anymore! Please, my darling, remember the promise we made. We vowed that we'd marry and live happily as wife and wife. Please, my darling, fight him...for me... and our love and happiness." _

_That was all Haggar needed to regain her strength and fight off Zarkon with an explosion of magic before unleashing all her power to send Zarkon through a purple portal, back to the real world. "I SEVER ALL LINKS THAT YOU HAVE WITH ME AND CAST YOU OUT... FOR ALL ETERNITY!" She yelled as Zarkon was sucked into the portal, leaving Haggar's mind forever._

**Back at Zarkon's ship**

The Galra Emperor suddenly felt his head throbbing in pain before he fell to his knees and getting back up a few minutes later. "HAGGAR, I WILL HAVE YOUR POWER BACK BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY!" He yelled before opening a comlink to his most trusted spies. "All of you, head to the last location of Haggar's parents. I have planted a seed of wanting in her mind that will lead her to her parents' corpses... and when that happens, she will be in my grasp."

**Back with Allura and Haggar**

Haggar opened her eyes and saw that she was back in the real world, with Allura holding her right hand. She immediately sat up and Drew her lover into a tight embrace as she began to cry. "Allura." She cried, happy that she was finally free to embrace her princess again.

"Shhh. It's alright, Haggar, I'm here." Allura said while comforting her princess as she cried for a little while.

When Haggar finally stopped crying, she passionately kissed Allura, as the mystics and Elder were outside. They finally separated and the lovers thanked the natives for their help and requested that they link their minds together so they could contact each other and know their location from anywhere in the universe, which they gladly did but told them it would take several weeks to fully control at will.

After saying goodbye to the natives, the 2 lovers left the planet and Haggar kept Allura in her lap the whole flight as they made out passionately for the whole flight until they were back at the castle. Once they were in their bedroom, they saw Pidge, sleeping beside their bed on a comfortable couch. "Pidge must have wanted to be here in case we came back, my darling." Allura whispered, so as not to wake their friend.

"She must have been so worried about us and thought that we wouldn't come back, especially since she heard what you said before we left, which means they must have helped the Taujeerians and took out the Galra in their system. She must have wanted to sleep in here for the night, just so she would wake up and hope to see us in the morning." Haggar whispered before she grabbed a blanket from a drawer and put it over Pidge gently.

"Well, let's not disappoint her, my darling princess." Allura whispered softly before they changed into their night clothing and climbed into bed, snuggling close together and sharing 1 last passionate kiss for the night before falling asleep. But Haggar couldn't get what Zarkon said about her parents out of her mind.

**There you go, my friends, the chapter is finally complete. Should I do the Space Mall episode or skip it, because I have 3 chapters planned that will involve Haggar investigating her parents' deaths and getting captured by Zarkon and eventually rescued by Allura and her Paladins that will end up with Haggar and her princess having their 'first time' if you know what I mean. Rate and review. See you soon, my friends.**


	5. Space Mall

**Chapter 5** **Space Mall **

After morning had arrived, Allura and Haggar woke up and smiled at each other after waking up in the other's arms, happy with the knowledge that Zarkon couldn't track them anymore. They then shared a tender good morning kiss, which lasted for 5 minutes before they heard Pidge moaning softly, showing she was slowly waking up from her team's mission in rescuing the Taujeerians from their hazardous home planet.

"Looks like we won't have much quality time together, my sweet princess." Haggar whispered with a knowing smile at their human friend.

"I know. But as I said last night: we can't disappoint, Pidge, my darling princess. She must really like us to sleep in our room while we were gone for our mission. But then again, I did threaten to leave the team and the chance to defeat Zarkon for good...even though I don't regret saying it... and would have gone through with it if you had left." Allura whispered as she held her lover close to her while rubbing her hair.

"Because of your love for me, my precious Allura. I would have done the same thing if circumstances called for it. After all, without the love and devotion we have for each other, we wouldn't be here in bed embracing each other as lovers." Haggar whispered before kissing her princess passionately before separating.

The two lovers had immediately got out of bed and got dressed before the female Paladin was more awake and was surprised to see both Allura and Haggar wide awake before her. Pidge immediately got off the couch, ran to them and hugged them tightly. "You both came back. I was so worried that your plan wouldn't work and that I'd never see you 2 again." She cried with happiness, joyful that her female Altean friends' mission was a success and that they came back.

The 2 lovers returned their friend's hug and Haggar rubbed her hair. "We're glad to see you again too, Pidge. How did your mission go? Are the Taujeerians alright?" She asked with concern for the Taujeerians.

"They're alright, Haggar. They're on their moon to await the shedding process of their planet. The leader told us that a Galra Commander named Morvok robbed them of their resources and damaged the Ark they built to get off their planet. We got there and helped the Taujeerians while fighting Morvok's ship. Hunk unlocked a new power for his Lion and it kept the Taujeerians from falling into acid. Good news is that Morvok's dead now and the Taujeerians are safe on their moon." Pidge explained, revealing what happened on their mission.

"That's great news, Pidge. But Morvok was just a weakling and a coward. Even Zarkon didn't like him. But at the very least, he won't be annoying or oppressing anyone else again." Haggar said with a smile, knowing that Morvok wouldn't be able to oppress or annoy her or her new friends ever again.

"So, Pidge, what happened after your mission? When we got back and headed here for bed, we saw you sleeping on the couch. We figured that you wanted to be here to see us when you woke up again. Before Haggar and I changed into our night clothing, she put that blanket over you to keep you warm." Allura asked, wanted to know what Pidge did after their mission.

"Well, after we got the Taujeerians to safety and got back here, we ate some dinner. Of course, everyone was worried about you 2. After the meals were done, we were all tired so we all went to bed to get some sleep. But I was so worried about you 2 that I couldn't sleep in my bed, so I decided to sleep in your room and just...hope that you would come back. After I got comfortable, I laid awake for about an hour and a half before I finally fell asleep. I was just...so worried that your mission would be a disaster and... you'd both leave the group and I'd...never see you guys again." Pidge said as tears began falling from her eyes, saddened at the thought of losing her Altean friends because of Zarkon.

The 2 lovers looked sadly at Pidge and hugged her close to them. "Don't worry, Pidge, you won't have to worry anymore and you won't lose us. Our mission was a success. Zarkon won't be able to track us in any way ever again." Allura assured the Green Paladin, hoping to comfort her friend along with her lover.

After Pidge wiped away her tears, they left the bedroom to go see the others. They got to the bridge and were greeted by the others, who were happy to see the princess and her lover had come back. "Welcome back, Princess." Shiro said with a smile.

"It's great that you're both back. We were worried about you." Coran added.

"Yeah, we were all worried, but I think Pidge was the most worried." Hunk said, remembering how worried Pidge was last night, despite them all being worried about the princess and her lover.

"Speaking of Pidge, where was she last night? I went to check on her and she wasn't in her room." Keith said with curiosity, wondering where Pidge was due to not finding her in her room.

"I... kinda slept in Allura and Haggar's room last night. I was just so worried about them, I couldn't sleep in my room, so I thought if I slept in their room, I thought I might see them again when I woke up and I did." Pidge said with a smile, revealing that where she was last night.

"Whoa, you slept in their room last night and they didn't take you to your room when they got back? That ain't fair! If I knew it would be that easy to sleep in their room, I'd have done in myself before Haggar got here. Who knows, we could have done some fun things together." Lance said with a disappointed face, thinking if it had been that easy to sleep in Allura's room with her, he'd have done it himself before Haggar came along.

That was when Haggar got into his face with glowing yellow eyes, ready to do something very bad to this pervert who would dare try to advance on her princess in that kind of way. "Things like what?! Trying to get into her bed with her?" She yelled, making Lance sweat and tremble in fear.

"N-n-n-no! I would...have tried to show her...some nice Earth things." He said in a afraid voice.

"Like what, how to be a teenaged perverted idiot? And don't even try hiding it, I can see what's going on in your head." Haggar said as she grabbed him by the shirt and held him up.

"A-a-all in...good fun." Lance said nervously.

"I'm going to say this once and only once. Allura is not an object of a pervert's lust fantasies. She is the most beautiful woman in the universe that I have been the most privileged woman in the universe to call a friend. Do not even think of making any advances towards her...EVER!" Haggar yelled as she threw the Blue Paladin down.

"Anyway...what happened with the mystics on that planet you mentioned, Haggar? Was your mission a success?" Shiro asked as he helped Lance up.

"It was, Shiro, Zarkon's links to me have been forever severed. He'll no longer be able to track us through me again." Haggar said with a smile after calming down.

Coran and the team were so happy and relieved to hear that Haggar's plan worked and that Zarkon could no longer track them down through the ex-high priestess dreams ever again and that Haggar wouldn't have to worry about being a living tracking beacon for Zarkon and his empire to track them down and more importantly...they wouldn't need to worry about the princess making good on her threat to leave them in order to be with her beloved.

"Well, while I'm glad that yours and Haggar's plan worked, Allura, I have some bad news: I inspected the ship for any damages before I went to sleep and found out that an important component to the castle's defense systems was badly damaged during the battle to help the people of Taujeer." Coran informed everyone.

Keith asked the most obvious question. "Can the part be fixed?"

Coran stated sadly. "Unfortunately, no. This very important part to the castle defenses is too badly damaged to be repaired. So we'll need to acquire a new one."

Shiro asked, since he and his team had no idea which planet to look for the component. "And how are we supposed to find a replacement for the damaged component?"

Coran answered plain and simple. "The one and only place where we're sure to find a replacement: a Space Mall."

The Paladins were surprised to what Coran just answered and Lance asked, to make sure he and his team heard him right. "Hold up, Coran. Did...did you just say a 'space mall?"

Haggar explained for her beloved's servant before they could get too excited and rush to 1 of the space malls. "It's not exactly like the 'malls' you humans have on your home planet Earth. There are only a few space malls scattered across the galaxy...and all of them are either owned or claimed by the Galran Empire and act as 'hangouts' for various underworld criminals to either buy, sell or trade weapons, illegal contraband and information...for the right price."

Shiro and his team were surprised and shocked after hearing that these 'space malls' were really hangouts for all sorts of criminals and Hunk (being a lot nervous) asked while keeping from wetting himself. "So...uh, how are we supposed to get the part for the castle defense system from this 'space mall'?"

Coran answered simply. "The only way for us to get the replacement part is...how you humans say...blending in?"

Shiro and Keith stated as they immediately understood by what Coran was saying. "You mean... disguising ourselves as criminals to avoid any unwanted attention?"

Coran nodded to confirm their answer. "That's correct."

While Coran had led Shiro and his team to show them the disguises they could wear while at the space mall...Allura approached her purple skinned princess in their room and kissed her. "Thank you for telling Lance off, my darling princess."

Haggar wrapped her arms around her princess's waist and rubbed their noses together. "No one has the right to think of you or speak to you like a pervert, my sweet princess, not while I'm here."

"I have a request for you, my darling, that is…if you want to do it." Allura whispered while rubbing her lover's hair.

"I'll do anything for you, my love, even if it means I have to pick you up and carry you when you're tired of walking." Haggar said with a smile, willing to do anything for her princess,seven carrying her when she was tired of walking.

"Could you accompany Coran and the Paladins on their little mission? I know that I can trust Shiro, Keith and Pidge since they're the more mature of the team but I can't help but worry that Lance or Hunk will most likely do something incredibly stupid while they are at that mall, espeaclly if it will more than likely attract very unwanted attention to us." Allura requested, showing she trusted Shiro, Keith and Pidge, as they were the more mature Paladins...but couldn't help but worry that Lance or Hunk would do something incredibly stupid while they at the 'space mall'.

Haggar took her lover's request to heart and answered while bringing a hand up and cupping her Allura's cheek. "Anything for you, my love. Would you also like me to get you a gift, something beautiful?"

Allura smiled and nodded, as the thought of a gift for herself and her lover had crossed her mind. "If you could, I would deeply appreciate it, my darling. And don't be shy to get yourself something as well."

"But what will you do while we're gone? I don't want you to get bored to death." Haggar said with a concerned look, not wanting her lover to get bored while she was gone. That was when the Spice Mice walked on Haggar's shoulders and squeaked something to her that she understood. "Games and a show for her? I think that would be great for her. Just make sure she doesn't get bored until we get back." She said with a smile while petting the mice gently before they got on Allura's shoulders.

The two lovers shared a passionate kiss and smiled lovingly at each other before the ex-high priestess had accompanied Coran and the Paladins to the space mall. After they left the ship and arrived at the closest space mall, Coran and the Paladins had walked around the establishment while disguised as space pirates and Haggar merely kept her distance, as their ship had detected a small number of Galran soldiers and security guards patrolling the mall. Shiro, Pidge and Keith were glad that Allura had asked Haggar to join them: especially when the ex-high priestess informed them that her princess lover asked her to keep an eye on Lance and Hunk (much to their annoyance) while Pidge and Keith had a small laugh at their expense.

After stopping at the wish fountain, Coran turned to them. "Alright everyone, let's fan out and search the area for the component we need. Pidge, you're the tech genius, so you're with me. We'll meet back here in 1 hour. Don't be late and try to blend in."

"And don't even _think_ about causing any trouble while we're here." Haggar said, specifically at Hunk and Lance, making them sweat drop before nodding nervously. She then looked at Shiro and sent him a telepathic message, making him confused before he nodded and the gang split up.

Keith stopped by a booth selling/trading knives and asked the owner for some information, while offering the Galran knife he stole from Zarkon as payment. The booth owner was amazed by the knife, admiring the craftsmanship of the blade and the 4 armed owner offered Keith some information he found useful and thanked the owner for his time before heading to look for the component.

**Meanwhile with Pidge and Coran**

The Green Paladin and Allura's servent/friend had found a high-tech electronics store that sold high end computers, gadgets and machinery. While Coran talked with the owner, Pidge looked all over the store until she finally found the component for the castle's defense systems. "Coran, great news: I found the component!" She yelled out, making the male Altean run to the area the Pidge was and he saw the component as well.

Coran immediately rushed to the owner and spoke to him was buying the component. "Excuse me, Sir, that component over there is what my friend and I need. What's your price for it?"

The owner answered. "That component will cost you 3500 space credits."

Coran stated while offering the owner a medium sized stack of space currency. "My friend and I only have 3400 space credits."

The owner replied cold and simple. "Then I'm afraid you and your little friend can't buy the component. Now get out of my store before I call security!"

However, before Pidge and Coran had left the electronic's store, they heard the owner call out. "W-Wait a second!" The two of them turned around surprised, as the owner had appeared to be some sort of hypnotic trance and they smiled at how that was possible: Haggar. Their sorceress friend had seemed to have a telepathic link with them at a long distance and could put someone under her control to make anyone do what she wanted, even from a distance also. The owner continued. "I've changed my mind. I'll sell the part to you and your friend for only 200 space credits."

Coran smiled as he shook the hypnotized owner's hand and handing him the two 200 credits. "Deal. Nice doing business with you." Shortly after getting the part they needed, Coran and Pidge had waited patiently for the others to meet them at the wishing fountain so they could leave and were joined by Shiro and Keith, who had both been carrying a big square box.

"Uh... Shiro, Keith, what's in that box?" Pidge asked, wondering what was in the box her friends were carrying.

"Well, let's just say that you have Haggar to thank for this. But she didn't want me to tell you what's in the box because she wanted it to be a surprise for you when we got back to the castle." Shiro answered, revealing what Haggar instructed him to do.

"Well, since we have some time left, let's get this thing to the ship and meet back here. Don't wanna spend the rest of our time here carrying this thing." Keith said with a strained voice before they began to carry the box to the ship.

"Speaking of Haggar, I wonder where she is?" Pidge asked, wondering where her purple skinned Altean friend was.

"Well, if we know her, she's probably looking for something to get for Allura and herself." Coran answered, knowing that would more than likely be the case. "Still, I hope she doesn't get noticed by the Galra that are here." He said with a worried face.

**Meanwhile with Haggar**

The Altean sorceress was scouring the Space Mall, looking to find the perfect gift for her princess and lover. Shortly after she hypnotized that greedy shop owner to make him give Coran and Pidge the component, she began looking for a jewelry store that would have the perfect thing to show her and Allura's love and eternal bond with each other.

But before she could find the perfect jewelry store, she looked beside her and saw a little humanoid green skinned, blue eyed and black haired girl. About 6 years old by the looks of her. It seemed she was looking at a cute stuffed animal that would make any young girl her age smile and feel safe while sleeping. Haggar smiled at this before walking in the store and up to the little girl. "Hey sweetie, you seem to be quite interested in that toy up there. Do you want to buy it?"

The young girl smiled gently. "Yes ma'am. I've wanted to have that cute animal so I can be safe when I sleep" She said before looking sad as tears fell from her eyes...but my mommy and me can't buy it…because...my daddy... he's...a very bad man. He drinks those very bad drinks that are meant for grown ups and hits my mom every day and he tries to do...a very gross thing to me that Mommy says shouldn't happen to girls my age... until they're grown up."

That was when the little girl's mother walked up to her and pulled her into a comforting hug. "There there, sweetie, it'll be alright. After today, that man will never lay a hand on either of us again. Just a few more hours and we'll be able to get away from him forever and we'll both be free of him forever."

Haggar looked at the mother and daughter and decided to 'deal with' the 1 who caused them so much pain and misery. And the way the sweet little girl said that her 'father' was trying to rape her made her furious beyond belief. Haggar walked up to them. "Excuse me, Miss, but could you tell me where your 'mate' is? I'm going to see to it that he never sets eyes on you or your little girl again."

"He's...in the blade store. I don't know what he wants with a blade, but I know that it he'll try to...hurt me and my baby. We've tried to get him help or run away, but he always refuses the help and finds us. The last time we did either of the 2, he slapped me and my baby. He's smart as well. He makes sure how he does it never leaves a mark, and that makes most people believe him when we try to explain what he really is." She explained while showing the bruises on them both.

That was the last straw for Haggar, as she was going to give that evil monster the punishment he's long deserved. But not before getting the cute stuffed animal from the shelf and giving it to the little girl. She also secretly hypnotized the owner of the store to let the little girl have the toy for free and not having to pay for it. After getting them to a safe place, she teleported to the blade store and quickly found the one who had been causing the woman and child so much pain and followed him until she was certain they were alone.

Haggar lifted up the man up with her telekinetic powers and turned him around to look him in the eyes. "So you're the 1 who's been causing that poor woman and that sweet little girl so much pain."

"What's it to you, bitch?! They're nothing but trash that deserves to be tossed!" The man said with an evil smile, not having a flicker of remorse for what he's done.

"Then you'll get to experience the worst pain in your life. For that woman and sweet little girl!" Haggar yelled before she used her magic to paralyze the evil monster, rendering every muscle in his body but the heart completely useless forever. "Now you'll get to live out the rest of your life... unable to move, feel, think, or speak. You will never hurt anything in the universe ever again. You'll be able to see and hear, but you'll never be able to do anything ever again." She said before using her magic to put him against a wall and used the knife he had to hang him up for someone to find him. "As humans say: 'welcome to hell'." She said before walking away.

She then contacted the woman and little girl mentally and told them that they were finally free to live their lives in peace and that the 1 who caused them so much pain was getting his comeuppance. Haggar went to the jewelry store and saw a gemstone necklace that the owner told her that the color could change with the wearer's emotions and there was even a 2nd necklace that symbolizes an eternal bond, which she knew Allura and herself had. After hypnotizing the owner to give it to her instead of paying for the extremely expensive necklaces, she went back to the wish fountain and joined Pidge and the others.

"Haggar, you're back, I was getting worried about you." Pidge said with a smile as she hugged her friend.

"Don't worry Pidge, I'm alright. I did a few things and got Allura a beautiful gift. I'll tell you about it when we get back to the castle." Haggar said as she rubbed her friend's hair.

Pidge asked while glancing around for the Yellow and Blue Paladins. "Has anyone seen Lance and Hunk?"

Shiro stated while wondering the same thing. "They should've been here by now. We agreed to meet here in one hour."

Keith offered a theory. "Maybe they stopped to grab a bite to eat? We all know that Hunk has a big..."

That was when they heard an angry shout out. "GET BACK HERE YOU TWO LOUSY THIEVES!"

The five of them looked at each other with horrified looks on their faces, as they turned to the direction the shouting came from...and stared shocked as Lance and Hunk were running with a video game console in the Blue Paladins hands and Hunk crying as they ran, with an angry store keeper and Galran security guard right behind them!

Lance shouted out. "Run you guys!"

But thankfully for them, Haggar had put both the guard and store keeper to sleep with a hypnotic chant that they couldn't fight. After they were safe, they returned to the ship, where Allura had waited patiently for them to return while playing with her let mice. She ran up to her Haggar and hugged her as she welcomed them back. "I'm glad you're all back, everyone.

"We got the component." Coran informed the princess.

"Excellent. Now we can get the defenses operational." Allura said with a smile as she hugged Pidge. "And I trust everyone got a little something for our trouble?"

"Yeah. Hey Pidge, check this out." Lance said, showing the tech genius the video game console he'd taken from the mall, along with several videogames the Pidge loved.

"Oh my gosh! You have no idea how much I wanted to play this game! I have to play this!" Pidge said with excitement as she opened the box and brought out a controller and the cards.

"Yeah! Let's get this baby set up!" Lance said with equal excitement as he held another controller.

"Where can we… How do?" Pidge asked but both her and Lance made stupid looks on their faces...as they realized that the ship didn't have a TV to plug the game up to.

"Before you guys freak out, look in your room, Pidge. I think you have Haggar to thank for getting this for you." Shiro told his 2 friends.

Pidge and Lance went to her room and saw a special designed TV that could hook up any game console, making Lance immediately grab the cords and hook up the video game. "YEEEESSSSSSS!" The Green Paladin yelled out before running back to the bridge and tightly hugged Haggar. "Oh Haggar, I love you! How'd you know?!"

"Well, I had a vision that that idiot Lance would buy that game and I know how much you love what humans call 'video games', so I telepathically instructed Shiro to buy that special designed 'TV' for you to enjoy the game." Haggar explained, revealing the surprise she was planning for her genius friend before their shopping trip.

"You did that...for me?!" Pidge asked with excitement, happy that Haggar did this for her.

"Indeed I did, Pidge. But don't let me keep you away from having fun, go and play your video games, I have something to give to Allura." Haggar said as she took Allura by the hand and led her to their room.

As soon as the door to their room closed, the Altean princess pulled her lover in for a long, loving kiss that lasted for 10 minutes before they separated. "So my darling princess, did you find us a gift."

"I did a lot more than that, my precious Allura." Haggar said softly as they sat down on their bed. The Altean sorceress told her 1 and only love of the abused woman and her child by their husband and father and how she had gotten the little girl her new stuffed animal and giving that evil monster the punishment he's long deserved by leaving him a prisoner in his own body. She also revealed that she helped Pidge and Coran get the component by hypnotizing the greedy owner of the store that had it.

She also revealed that she hypnotized the other store owners of the stuffed animal and the jewelry store before bringing out the necklaces before putting the changing color 1 on Allura and putting the other 1 on herself. "Do you like your gift, my sweet princess Allura?"

Allura looked at the gemstone and saw it turned pink for love and happiness. "I love it, my darling princess. It's so pretty and beautiful." She said before she kissed her Haggar passionately. "And you did that woman and child a great favor by giving that evil man the justice he's deserved for everything he's done to them."

"I'm so glad you like your gift, my love. And Now that the woman and child are finally free of that monster, they can live their lives in peace. And both these necklaces will forever symbolize our bond. I'm yours, but only so much as you're mine. I love you, my precious Allura." Haggar said sweetly before kissing her Allura deeply and passionately.

"I love you too, my darling princess." Allura whispered before they changed into their night clothing and went to bed, snuggling close together. But before Haggar went to sleep, she thought about her parents and had the desire to find out what happened to them.

**There you go, my friends, the Space Mall chapter is complete. Next will be the 3 chapters where Haggar leaves the group to find out what happened to her parents, her getting captured by Zarkon and getting tortured to rejoin him and Allura and the team rescuing her and Haggar and Allura's 'first time'. Rate and review. See you soon, my friends.**


	6. Finding out the Truth

**Chapter 6 Finding out the truth**

It had been 2 weeks since the Space Mall adventure and the Voltron team was ready to take the fight to Zarkon. They'd been tracking down large numbers of Galra fleets and destroying them while also taking any information they'd need for whatever Zarkon had in store for them in the upcoming fight. And with Haggar's help, the search and destroy missions were extremely easy, especially with her magic to help them. Haggar and Allura even taught each other a few things in case they would need them if they ever got separated and they'd even found some time to be alone with each other when the team went on a few missions but Haggar still couldn't stop thinking about what Zarkon said about her parents when she severed all links with him and was working on regaining the memories to find out what happened, which would cause her to do something drastic and reckless.

**In the castle/ship**

Everyone was doing what they felt was best to prepare for the next encounter against Zarkon. The Paladins were either training or doing other stuff to improve themselves while Allura and Coran were checking the bridge for any defenses that needed to be fixed.

But Haggar was in her room, meditating on finding out about what happened to her parents. What Zarkon had told her about them had been constantly on her mind but she couldn't remember anything about what happened the day she was separated from them, so she'd meditating on finding out. She'd been meditating for 1 hour and was now in a deep trance, seeing images of what happened that awful day.

**Flashback 10'000 years ago**

_Haggar was entering the cockpit of her parents' ship. Her mother said something that was not quite understandable, but then all of the sudden... they were attacked by a Galra ship! Her father panicked as he tried desperately to avoid the fighters but couldn't and they were pulled inside the ship by some kind of force. Haggar tried to break it with her powers but was unable to and they were inside the ship, with Haggar feeling scared as she felt a dark and evil force._

_When Galra soldiers entered their ship. Haggar's father tried to shoot them and Haggar used her magic to defend her parents but they were all paralyzed by the same dark force and pulled to the ground. Haggar looked up and saw who it was, making her eyes widen in fear of who she saw: Zarkon, Emperor of the Galra Empire. Haggar heard that he'd once been the Black Paladin of Voltron, the Legendary Defender of the universe until he became corrupted by the power he had._

_Zarkon smirked evilly before speaking. "Finally, I have found you... Haggar." _

**Outside Haggar's mind**

Haggar tried hard to see what happened afterwards but the next images were not clear, other then when she pleaded that she didn't want to help in giving Zarkon the secrets of eternal life through quintessence. Finally, she saw one where Zarkon threatened to kill her parents.

**Inside Haggar's mind**

_Haggar was on her knees, seeing her parents held by Galra soldiers, ready to kill them at any moment. "Zarkon, don't hurt them!" She pleaded, not wanting to lose her parents, mainly her mother. _

_Zarkon looked at the young Altean sorceress with a very fierce gaze. "You will help me create the Quintessence, Altean sorceress...or you will have the privilege of being the cause of your parents' deaths!"_

_Haggar watched as the Galra soldiers held their swords closer to her parents' throats and closed her eyes as tears flowed from her eyes. Zarkon was about to give the signal, when Haggar shouted out. "Stop!" Zarkon looked to her, waiting for what she was going to say. "I'll do it. I... will create the Quintessence for you... Zarkon. Just please... don't hurt my parents."_

_Haggar's mother shook her head, not wanting her daughter to serve a tyrant like Zarkon, even if she and her husband had to die for their daughter. "No Haggar, don't do it. If Zarkon gets the Quintessence, he'll live forever to rule the universe and no one will be able to stop him!"_

_"Please Zarkon, I'll do whatever you want, just let my parents go!" Haggar pleaded, not wanting her parents hurt or worse._

_Zarkon smirked and nodded to the soldiers, seemingly honoring his part of the deal and letting Haggar's parents go. One Galra commander held Haggar up to make her face Zarkon as he looked into her eyes. "A wise decision, Haggar. But let me tell you this, for I will not repeat myself! You will use the dark arts to make as much Quintessence as I require. If you even stop, your parents will die. You will embrace the full power of the darkness. If you try to resist, your parents will die! You will serve me, as the high Priestess of my empire! If you fail me, your parents will die!"_

_Haggar slowly nodded with reluctance. "I... will do as you say... Lord Zarkon."_

_Zarkon smiled evilly and singled for Haggar's parents to be taken away and take Haggar to his ship. _

_"Haggar!" Both of Haggar's parents called out to their daughter as they were dragged away._

_"MOM! DAD!" Haggar yelled as she was dragged away by the druids._

**Outside Haggar's mind**

The Altean sorceress cried at seeing those horrible memories again, but remained in her trance to keep focused on what happened_._

**Inside Haggar's mind**

_For many weeks, young Haggar was exposed to dark magic of the druids that would have killed a normal person but as talented she was in magic, she kept herself alive while creating the Quintessence that Zarkon wanted. During the latest exposure, she fell to her knees as she finally was able to create all the Quintessence that Zarkon wanted to obtain immortality. Her whole body was hurting and she tried so hard to get up when Zarkon walked into the room._

_"You have done well, but this is only the beginning." Zarkon said with an evil smile, knowing that this was only the beginning of his quest for immortality._

_Not long after another image came that was a few days afterwards. Haggar was taken to the bridge of Zarkon's flagship, where she watched with horror as her home-planet, Altea, was being destroyed by the Galra. She wanted to scream and cry her tears out, for she knew that her beloved Allura was dead for sure, but had to keep calm so Zarkon wouldn't kill her parents, as they were all she had left now._

_Zarkon walked to her and said. "Now you see, Haggar. All who oppose me...will be destroyed." _

_Haggar was trying to keep herself composed and asked calmly. "Where are my parents now?" _

_Zarkon showed her a live recording of her parents, kept in a cell "You're parents are being kept in a secret location on Altea." _

_"Altea? But you just destroyed it!"_

_"They are on a secret location on the planet. I will keep them on this dead rock of a planet, as a warning to you that your parents will meet the same fate as Altea. If you ever oppose me, they... will... die!" Zarkon threatened._

**Outside Haggar's mind**

After that, Zarkon erased all her remaining memories from her mind. Now she only saw the things she did remember when she served under Zarkon and became corrupted by dark magic**. **Haggar's eyes opened wide, as she didn't want to see anymore of those horrible memories of what she did in Zarkon's name. But now she knew what to do: she had to go to Altea to learn about what happened to her parents all those centuries ago.

**Later on at dinner**

All the Paladins, Alura and Coran were on the table when Haggar joined them. As she sat down next to Allura, she sighed, as it was difficult for her to say the right words to everyone about what she wanted to do, concerning Allura and Pidge. "Haggar, what's wrong?" The female Paladin asked.

Allura looked worried for her lover and put her hand on hers. "Any luck with getting any memories back?"

Haggar slowly nodded. "I did... but..." She said with worry, not sure if she should tell her lover and her friends about her plan.

"What's wrong?" Allura asked with concern.

After a few minutes, Haggar found some courage in her and stood up to tell everyone of her plan. "Everyone, I want to return to Altea."

What Haggar said only made everyone look at Haggar in shocking silence, as they didn't expect to hear that from Zarkon's ex high priestess. Especially Allura, who was completely against the whole idea. "Return to Altea?! No, Haggar, you can't! It's way too dangerous to go there!"

"I know you guys think this is a bad idea, and I completely agree with you. But ever since Zarkon mentioned about what happened to my parents when I broke all mental connection with him, I have tried to remember for the past few days what happened to them, and I think I finally found out the truth. I saw images of him telling me when I was younger that he was keeping them on Altea on a secret location after he had destroyed the planet. I know it has been over 10.000 years, but i just want to know what happened to them."

Pidge walked up to Haggar and stroked her back softly as she looked at her Altean friend with knowing sympathetic eyes, for she understood how it felt to try to figure out what happened to family, making Haggar look at Pidge the same way as she stroked her hair. Pidge had told Haggar that her family was missing as well and that the Galra were the ones responsible.

After a few seconds, Coran finally spoke gently. "Look Haggar, we all feel for you, but Allura is right. Altea is now deep into Galra territory and the risk of being detected by them is very large."

Keith added in the same tone. "And what if this is what Zarkon wants you to do, Haggar? It could be a trap."

Haggar sat down and sighed. "I know that it could be, but I want to go to Altea to know the truth!"

Allura and Pidge tried to calm her down while Shiro spoke. "We understand Haggar, but we cannot take any chances if it is a trap."

Haggar slowly calmed herself as she tried to hold in her tears and slowly nodded, but Allura sensed some determination in Haggar through their mental link and was sure that she was going to do something reckless.

**Later that day**

The Altean lovers were their room, with Haggar reading a book and Allura bathing her pet nice. When the princess was done, she wanted to talk to her lover, in the hope she will change her mind about her plan. "Haggar, we need to talk."

"Is it about what I said at dinner time?" Haggar asked, having known what herself and Allura needed to talk about through their mental link to each other.

Allura looked into her princess's eyes with love. "Haggar, I need you to listen to me. I know how much you want to return to Altea to know what happened to your parents, but hear me out. I really feel that Zarkon had planned for you to want to know the truth and prepared a trap for you."

"Allura... I-"

"Please Haggar, I really feel that something terrible is going to happen if you go!" She said as she held Haggar's cheeks softly as she looked deeper into her eyes. "Please, don't... don't go. Promise me that you won't go. I promise you that we will go to Altea one day to figure out the truth, but please, have patience...for me?"

Haggar really wanted to go and find out about her parents but was touched by her princess's words. She looked away for a moment before looking at her again. "I promise." She said softly.

Allura smiled and kissed Haggar passionately. However, Haggar had a feeling that Allura might sense that she will go anyway, so she tried to block any of those thoughts and secretly crossed her fingers behind her back.

**Later at night**

Haggar waited patiently until everyone on the ship was asleep before she began to go through with her secret plan. She slowly got out of the bed without waking Allura and quietly put on the outfit she picked out earlier. As she was about to leave the room, she looked at her sleeping lover and she thought that it was best to leave a note for her. She found a piece of paper from a drawer and used her magic to write something in Altean before putting it on her pillow next to Allura.

"I'm sorry, Allura." Haggar whispered quietly as she carefully kissed Allura's cheek, making the Altean princess smile sweetly and making Haggar smile before she quickly and quietly left the room.

Haggar quickly got to the shuttle bay and prepared for take off before flying out of the castle. Once she was far enough away, she created a wormhole straight for the Altean system. Allura had taught her lover to create wormholes in case she had to take command of the ship one day and with adjustments to the shuttles from Pidge, she arrived into the Altea system and was in orbit of the planet in just a few minutes time.

When she saw the planet, she was shocked to discover that it was in ruins. What was once a beautiful world was now a dead wasteland. The cities that lit the night sky were now nothing but thousands of years of old ruins. It hurt her so much to see her home world like this but now wasn't the time to grieve for her old home.

Before she landed, she released a small satellite that Pidge created to check any part of the planet to search for anything that could find her parents and landed near her home city, close to the old palace. She got out of the shuttle and took steps on the cold and dead grounds of her beloved home before walking the streets and the places where she grew up while looking on with sadness, her heart broken at seeing so many childhood memories of herself and of her together with Allura... destroyed and reduced to ruins. But what she didn't know... was that she was being watched.

From a distance, 2 Galra scouts were watching as they saw the 1 that they had been waiting weeks to show up. 1 of them smirked as he had his eyes on Haggar and looked at his partner. "Send word to emperor Zarkon. Tell him that his 'high priestess'...has come home." He said with an evil smile, making his partner grin evilly before doing just that.

**At Zarkon's ship in his throne room**

The evil Galra Emperor was waiting for any clues to find Haggar or Voltran when a call came in from his comlink. He opened the channel and saw one of his best scouts. "Have you found any news on Haggar or Voltran?"

"Yes, my lord. Haggar has just landed on Altea, just as you predicted." The scout said evilly.

This made Zarkon smirk evilly as he stood up. "Keep following her and do not make any move until I arrive with my personal squad. Vrepit Sa"

"Vrepit Sa, my Lord." The scout said before breaking contact with his Lord and Master.

Zarkon then opened another channel to order the bridge to set course for Altea. "Commander!"

The Galra commander was shocked to hear his emperor all of the sudden but recovered soon and saluted. "Yes, Lord Zarkon?"

"Order the fleet to set course for Altea!"

"Yes, my Lord. Setting course now." The commander said as he did what his lord and Master ordered.

**Back at Altea**

Haggar came upon the old palace of Altea and as she entered the massive castle, she had several memory flashes of her past life that felt so real, she thought it was only yesterday she'd left the planet. Haggar saw the people walking around, talking or performing their duties. She saw her teenage self with Allura who were having a gossip talk about something and giggled at it. It warmed her heart to see these beautiful memories again as she thought of the life that she and Allura could have had if she hadn't left. She walked further inside the castle until she got to Allura's old room and remembered how she spent her last sleepover with her... and their first kiss in this very room.

After looking around the room, Haggar saw Allura's old comlink. She wandered something and walked to the device. It was old and out of service, but Haggar used her magic to get it to work again. The screen turned on and she found out that it had one last recorded face call with Haggar on... the day before the attack on Altea!

"So... Allura and I...talked before Zarkon attacked the planet?" Haggar asked as she struggled to remember what happened that day but couldn't. After that didn't work, she played the record immediately. When Haggar saw the whole message that her younger self told Allura, the memory of that day came back to her and she used her powers to see Allura's side of the last conversation they had together.

**Flashback 10'000 years ago the day before Zarkon attacked Altea**

_It was only early in the morning and Allura was still in deep sleep as her comlink was going off. Allura growled as she annoyingly woke up and walked slowly to the screen and answered the call sleepily. "Hello?"_

_"Allura? Allura, it's me, Haggar!" The young Altean sorceress said with an excited smile on the screen._

_Allura opened 1 of her eyes and when she saw her beloved Haggar, both her eyes went wide and she was no longer sleepy but really woken up with surprise and happiness. "HAGGAR! IT'S YOU! I... I haven't heard from you for so long! How are you?!"_

_Haggar laughed a bit at her girlfriend's reaction and said. "I'm great, It's so good to see you again." Then she felt ashamed and became sad as a tears fell from her eyes. "I'm sorry that I haven't contacted you in years, but I was so into my studies and my father didn't allow me to have any contact with anyone until he was satisfied with my progress."_

_"Shhh. Don't cry Haggar, I understand... and I have waited patiently to hear from you, my love." Allura whispered, trying to comfort her 1 and only love._

_Haggar smiled as she wiped away her tears and asked with curiosity. "So... you're not...?"_

_Allura smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm not married or engaged to anyone. I convinced my father that I want to choose my suitor. Trust me, it annoys him still that I haven't picked anyone yet."_

_Haggar laughed again. "I would have loved to see that." She said, imagining the annoyed look on the Altean King's face at his daughter not picking any suitors due to the fact that she was in love with her._

_"I know. So how are you doing now?"_

_"Great! I'm... actually on my way to Altea" _

_This got Allura even more surprised, she nearly screamed out in happiness. "You are?!" _

_Haggar nodded with a smile. "Yes. I'm finally allowed from my father to visit you. And believe me, when I see you again, I am going to stay with you forever, and I don't care what my father says. I've waited to see you for years and I can't bear being away from you for another second." _

_"I feel the same way, my love. And tonight, I'll have a wonderful surprise for you when we get to be all alone." Allura said while trying to hold her tears. Both lovers touched the screen and smiled to 1 another. "I will be waiting for you... my dear Haggar" _

_"See you soon, my love. And I can't wait for your wonderful surprise." Haggar said with a romantic smile. Before the call was over, Allura gave a kiss on the screen with Haggar, both eager to see each other again in person._

**Flashback end**

Haggar sobbed a bit after seeing it the memory ended. "Oh, Allura. If only Zarkon never got to me, we would never have been separated for 10.000 years." However, her sad moment was interrupted when she got a message from the satellite, picking up a trace of what seemed to be the last known location of her parents. Without wasting time, she hurried back to the shuttle and flow to the marked location, which was a few hundred miles from the palace.

**Meanwhile at the castle/ship in Allura and Haggar's room**

Allura woke up, only to not find Haggar by her side. She sat up and looked around. "Haggar?" She asked with concern, wondering where her lover could be. But then she saw a note on her pillow before taking it in her hands reading it. "My sweet princess Allura, I know I gave you my word I wouldn't go to Altea because of Zarkon. But wanting to know the truth about my parents... made me to break that promise. By the time you are reading this, I will be long gone and on my way to Altea. With any luck, I will finally find the truth of my parents deaths. I know that the first thing you will do is come after me, but I don't want you to follow me. This is something I must do myself. If you, Pidge and the others are angry at my decision, I will do all I can to make it up to you once I have returned. Your darling princess, Haggar."

Allura's eyes went wide she quickly dressed and hurried out of the room and ran to the bridge while calling out. "CORAN! PALADINS!"

When the Paladins heard Allura call out to them, they woke up, thinking that Zarkon was attacking. As soon as they made it to the bridge, Shiro asked. "What's going on!? Are the Galra attacking!?"

"Haggar is gone!" Allura said, panicked as she started the controls to set course for Altea.

"To where?" Coran asked as he came in, still sleepy with his face mask on.

"SHE LEFT FOR ALTEA!" Allura yelled out, shocking everyone wide awake.

"WHAT?!" Pidge yelled out with shock, not believing that her Altean friend would go to Altea after warning her that it could be a trap laid out by Zarkon.

"Coran, set course for Altea! NOW!" Allura ordered her servant/friend, making him nod as he went straight to the controls.

Shiro then faced the other Paladins. "Alright team, suit up!"

All the Paladins went to put on their suits while Allura created a wormhole to head straight to Altea. The Altean princess was not angry, but scared. She knew that something bad was going to happen and she needed to hurry to save her beloved...before Zarkon got his hands on her! "_Haggar, please be there... please." _She thought to herself with worry.

**Back on Altea**

Haggar flew to her parents' location, trying to brace herself for what she would find out about them. Had they died of old age? Or did something happen to them? Whatever it was, Haggar got a feeling that she wasn't going to like it. When she neared the marked location, she was shocked to see that it was not an ancient building or a secret base...but a crashed ship...her parents ship!

But Haggar was also confused. "Why did the satellite sense my parents here?" She said to herself. After she landed, she hurried to the old crashed ship that belonged to her family. Even though the ship was thousands of years old, it still looked as her old ship. Haggar entered it and was getting scared of what she would find. She looked in nearly every room in it, but found nothing, only memories. That was when she discovered that the only room left was the bridge. She walked fast towards it and saw that the door was rusted, making it impossible to open with her hands. Haggar used all her magic to crack it open, which it did. And as Haggar entered, she gasped as saw the fossilized remains...of her parents!

Tears fell from Haggar's eyes again as she fell to her knees, close to the remains of her parents. "Mom... Dad... I'm so sorry." She said sadly as she cried her tears out for a few minutes. When she calmed down again, she started to think. "But... why are they here? Zarkon said that..."

It was then that Haggar got a horrible feeling that Zarkon may have lied to her, but there was only 1 way to see the truth. She put her hands on the fossilized skulls of her parents and closed her eyes as she used her new powers to see into the final memories of her parents before they died and why they were in their ship.

**Flashback 10'000 years ago **

_Haggar's parents were blindfolded by Galra soldiers and were being taken away somewhere the Galra didn't want them to know about...yet. "No! Please spare our daughter! We beg you!" Haggar's mother yelled, wanting her daughter soared from whatever Zarkon had planned for her._

_"Where are you taking us?! Answer me!" Haggar's father demanded, wanting to know where he and his wife were being taken._

_But then he was silenced by a fierce punch in the face. "SILENCE!" A Galra soldier ordered._

_After being dragged for what seemed to be forever, Haggar's parents were held on their knees and their blindfolds were removed, shocking them as they saw that they were back in their ship on the bridge. "Wait, why have you brought us here?" Haggar's father asked the soldier, only for the Galra to stay silent. Suddenly, Zarkon entered the bridge, ordering the soldiers to leave them, which they did. When the soldiers left, Zarkon locked the door and looked at Haggar's parents again. "Why have you brought us here, Zarkon?!"_

_Zarkon chuckled evilly before answering. "To get rid of the last ties that has held your daughter back from gaining her true potential." Both parents looked afraid as Zarkon went on. "Your daughter is far more powerful than you both realized." He said before he saw something in their eyes that he expected to see. "But you already knew and have tried so hard to 'protect' her. Did you think her powers would remain unnoticed forever? The power she possess will be a great asset to my eternal rule over the universe! But unfortunately for you, you won't be alive to see it. 1 of the 3 beings that hold her back will soon be dead, which leaves only the 2 of you. Once you're both dead, Haggar will be under my complete control!" He said evilly before raising his blade to kill Haggar's parents!_

_"You lied, didn't you?" Haggar's mother asked as she and her husband embraced, now realizing that Zarkon had no intention of letting them live._

_"You're right, I did lie." Zarkon said evilly before he dealt the killing blow as Haggar's parents screamed horribly._

**Flashback end**

At the moment the sword killed them, Haggar screamed. "NOOOOOOOOOO!"

The cockpit exploded from the power burst from Haggar. All the emotions that were unleashed after this revelation was too much for her to control that the powerburst even caused an earthquake. She fell on her knees. "No." She cried before looking at her parents one more time with tears flowing from her eyes. She finally knew what happened to them. All this time, Zarkon had lied to her.

Suddenly, Haggar sensed something, a dark and sinister feeling. She looked up and saw Zarkon's flagship entering the Altean atmosphere and It was in that moment that Haggar could feel her anger growing. "Zarkon..." She said as she raised herself. "Zarkon!" Her fury growing as she floated in the air and sparks came from her body as she hovered out of her parents' ship. "Zarkon!" Her eyes glowed white as purple energy surrounded her body. All she wanted now was to kill the one that ruined her life and took everything from her "ZAAAAAAAARKOOOOOOON!" She yelled out as she flew to Zarkon's ship.

Thousands of Galra fighters flew to get to Haggar but were nearly all destroyed by her as she flew up and used her fierce magic to fight back despite being under fire. Even a few Robeasts were destroyed with her electric powers that were even as strong as lighting strikes before she yelled out as she unleashed an explosive wave of power, destroying all the Galra fighters and Robeasts around her. But when the last ship landed in front of a fierce Haggar, dozens of elite Galra soldiers exited…before Zarkon himself appeared.

**Meanwhile at the castle/ship just before Haggar's power went out of control**

Allura was trying as hard as she could to take the castle to Altea as fast as possible but was getting more worried with every second. "Coran, can't we go any faster!?"

"If we go too fast, princess, the wormhole will take us way too far away and we will miss Altea by billions of light years." Coran answered honestly.

Allura became frustrated that the castle couldn't go any faster. "How much longer until we-" She began to ask but all of the sudden, she felt something mentally, like a painful snap, making her yell in pain as she held one hand on her head but kept the other on the controls. "Aaaahhhh!"

Pidge ran to Allura and put her hands on her back. "Allura, what's wrong?" She asked with concern.

The Altean princess tried to sense what it was and said. "It's... it's Haggar. I felt... pain and anger coming from her."

Pidge and the others didn't knew what she meant, but then remembered how Allura and Haggar had strengthened their mental link and knew that something terrible must have happened to Haggar. Allura put her other hand back on the controls. "Something terrible has happened. We have to hurry!"

Coran became worried as well, for this was not sounding good and told Allura how long it would take to get to Altea. "Just 56 ticks before we make it to Altea, princess." He said with concern, making Allura nod.

"_I hope we're not too late._" Allura and Pidge thought to themselves, concerned about Haggar.

**Back on Altea**

Haggar's anger rose at seeing the 1 being in the universe that she hated most and without thinking, she attacked him and his elite soldiers head on. "ZARKON!." She yelled in unbelievable fury.

The elite soldiers fought with all their might against the former high priestess but most were slaughtered by her powerful magic. As she pushed a dead elite soldier aside and attacked Zarkon, the Galra Emperor smirked as he deflected nearly every one of her magic attacks. Haggar even used illusions on him but they had no effect on him. Not long after all that, Zarkon saw an opening in her defense and grabbed her straight at her throat. She struggled to get loose and used all her powers try to kill Zarkon but they made barely any damage to him.

"Enough!" Zarkon said, having had enough of this little game as he used a strong power burst on Haggar.

"AAARRRggghhh.." Haggar screamed as she felt her power drained away. Zarkon let her go while the few remaining elite soldiers restrained her as she became unconsciousness. one of the soldiers injected her with a powerful sedative so she wouldn't be able to escape or move.

Zarkon smirked evilly as he ordered his personal soldiers. "Put her into my ship. We're leaving."

The soldiers obeyed and dragged Haggar inside Zarkon's shuttle and flew back to his main ship. While the giant ship was leaving the planet, Zarkon got a message from one of his officers. "My liege, another ship has entered the system through a wormhole! It's the castle from princess Allura, sir!"

Zarkon then said to the commander. "Prepare for departure, Commander. Voltron will be taken...another time."

"Yes, sir." The Commander said as Zarkon entered the main ship with his vessel before it prepared to enter a wormhole.

**Meanwhile with Allura and the Voltran team**

Allura and the Paladins saw Zarkon's ship, preparing to leave. "That's Zarkon's flagship and it's about to enter a wormhole!" said Coran as they just entered the Altean system.

Allura and the Paladins had a bad feeling about this but before they could pursue Zarkon, the flagship entered the wormhole and disappeared, making Allura gasp as she froze up in fear as she thought of the possibility of her lover in Zarkon's hands.

Coran then spotted on the sensors that the shuttle Haggar took was still on the planet's surface before he tried to make contact with the Altean sorceress. "Haggar, this is Coran from the castle, do you read me?" He asked, only to receive no response.

But then Pidge saw on her screen 1 of the small satellites she made was still in orbit. "Hey, there's one of the satellites I made! Haggar must have used it, which means we can see what happened down there."

"Can your satellites do that, Pidge?" Lance asked.

"Yeah. I put a recorder on every one of them, just in case." Pidge answered as she connected the small satellite to her computer and played the recording on the big screen.

They saw how Haggar had found her parents ship and were shocked how the cockpit exploded and the earthquake caused by Haggar, but also saw that her parents remains were untouched. They also saw Zarkon's ship had arrived with thousands of Galra soldiers landing and thousands of Galra fighters. But none of the Paladins, nor Corin or Allura could believe their eyes after seeing Haggar's powers and how she slaughtered all the Galra on the planet within minutes.

"My... God..." Shiro said with shock.

Allura couldn't believe how powerful her lover really was, thinking that her magic could be as powerful as Voltran. "I never thought she... was so powerful"

"She must have figured out it was Zarkon that killed her parents all along." Coran theorized. "I mean, why else would her parents ship be on Altea, with her parents remains still in it?"

"Coran could have a point, everyone would be pushed over the edge to find out the horrible truth about who killed their family." Keith said.

But when they saw Haggar fighting Zarkon...and her getting captured, Allura froze again. "_They got her... Haggar..." _She thought to herself as she could only imagine what would happen to her purple skinned princess. The thought was too much for her that it caused her to faint and fall on the floor.

"Allura!" The team and Coran all yelled as they ran up to the princess.

"She fainted." Coran said with worry.

"Let's take her to her room. You guys try to track Zarkon and I'll stay with Allura until she wakes up." Pidge suggested before she and Keith took the Altean princess to her room until she woke up again.

Shiro and the others knew that they were now in a very difficult situation with Haggar being captured and that they had no idea where Zarkon had taken her. But regardless, they would start looking for a way to find Zarkon and get Haggar back however they could, for the Altean sorceress's sake...and Allura's.

**There you go, my friends, the Finding out the Truth chapter is complete. I'd like to give thanks to my good friend, SreznoJIG for coming up with this idea for me, along with the other 2 chapters that will be after this 1. Rate and review. See you soon, my friends.**


	7. You can never escape Me

**Chapter 7 You Can Never Escape Me**

Haggar was being dragged through a long corridor by two Galra soldiers. Her vision was blurry and she passed out from time to time. When she woke up fully again, the Altean sorceress saw that she was chained to a steel wall and that she was being kept in a cell with all kinds of torture machinery around and a video cam pointing to her. She tried to use her magic to get loose but as she tried, she was electrocuted painfully, making her scream in pain. "AAAAAARGH!" When it was over, Haggar's head fell as the electric shocks stopped. After that, The cell doors opened, letting light coming from it blind her vision but she could see someone enter. It was Zarkon. Haggar's anger rose as she saw the evil emperor, for it was he who killed his parents and destroyed her planet and people so long ago and lied to her to keep her under his control...all for her great power. "ZARKON!" Haggar yelled with anger as she tried to get loose but was shocked again, making her scream in pain again. "AAAAAARGH!" She screamed as she felt even more weak but her anger was anything but gone.

Zarkon just evilly smirked at her, delighted to have the most powerful Altean in the universe back. "Haggar, you have returned to me... finally."

Haggar then looked to the 1 being who ruined hers and Allura's life together with nothing but fury in her eyes. "YOU MONSTER! YOU KILLED MY PARENTS AND YOU LIED TO ME, ZARKON! ALL THIS TIME YOU HAVE LIED TO ME ABOUT EVERYTHING!"

Zarkon walked up to her with an evil smile on his face. "What I did was unlock your true potential. And you did...on Altea. You have finally unlocked what I had hoped had happened 10.000 years ago. You have shown to me that your powers are equal to Voltron!"

Haggar's eyes went wide, as she couldn't believe what she'd heard. _Are my_ _powers truly equal to that of Voltron? But... that's impossible. No one in the universe has ever matched Voltron's power ever since it was created, especially not even the most powerful of Alteans."_

As if Zarkon could read her mind, he smirked as he started to explain "When I wanted to rule the universe for eternity, I knew I needed the knowledge of eternal life through Quintessence and the only one with the right knowledge was you, but that wasn't the only reason."

This made Haggar confused of what Zarkon meant by that. "What are you mean that wasn't the only reason, Zarkon? You told me that you only wanted me for the Quintessence knowledge I possessed."

"Indeed, but when found out about you and searched through your records, I saw something astounding in your past. Something that your parents kept from you ever since you were a little 4 year old girl." He explained, making Haggar suddenly remember something... from a memory she didn't remember due to being 4 years old.

**Flashback to when Haggar was 4 years old**

_Little Haggar and her parents were camping on a planet with a savanna environment and were having a great time. The 4 year old Altean was even feeding some very cute little animals that she also petted, making them rub against her face and making her giggle. "Aren't you all so cute?" She asked as she rubbed their fur, making her mother smile at her daughter's natural skills with cute animals._

_Suddenly, growling and rusting was heard through the bushes of their campsite, making the cute animals quickly ran up the nearby trees as the Altean family stood up, with Haggar's father getting in front of his wife and daughter to protect them. _

_"Mommy, what are those things in the bushes?" Little Haggar said with fear in her voice, afraid of whatever was headed their way._

_"Don't worry, sweetie. Mommy and Daddy won't let anything happen to you. Just stay behind us like a big girl, alright?" Haggar's mother said, trying to calm her daughter, despite her worry that everything probably wouldn't be all right. _

_A few seconds later, 4 wild leopard like animals leaped from the bushes and attacked the Altean family. Despite trying to fend them off and hitting them a few times, the creatures were too fast and strong and Haggar's mother pushed her daughter away as the leopards closed in for the kill. _

_Little Haggar was scared as she feared that she may have to see her parents being killed right in front of her. She wanted the animals to stop as her eyes brightened white and purple energy surrounded her. Then as her mother was being severely clawed by one of the animals, little Haggar was pushed over the edge. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She yelled at the top of her lungs as a huge powerburst came from her that not only completely vaporized the animals, but was so powerful that it created like an explosion._

_When the dust settled, all their surroundings were destroyed but only little Haggar, her parents and their campsite was untouched. Her father didn't knew what he had just witnessed but looked on in shock as Little Haggar floated to her mother and used her powers to heal her, causing her mother to wake up just in time to see her daughter glowing with unimaginable power before she passed out from exhaustion, leaving her parents still in shock._

**Flashback end**

Haggar was shocked after seeing that memory, especially since she couldn't remember it until now. "_I...never knew that I...was that powerful. But I did the same thing back on Altea when I destroyed that entire Galra fleet. Could...that power be the result of...my desire to protect the people I love?" _

Zarkon smirked as Haggar was remembering what he told her before he spoke again. "You've had the potential of being just as powerful as Voltron all along, locked deep inside of you. And now that you are back with me, you will use those powers to capture Voltron...or destroy it if you must... after you become my high priestess...and my personal weapon."

But this made Hagger look fierce as she yelled defiantly. "I will never, ever serve you again, Zarkon. NEVER AGAIN!"

"We'll see." Zarkon said before he signaled his minion assigned to torture Haggar with a snap of his fingers to push a button on the control panel, electrocuting her as she screamed in pain.

**4 days later**

Haggar's torture was nonstop. Zarkon had tried to break her spirit first by physical torture, by electrocution, using whip slashes or the druids using their dark magic to hurt Haggar in nearly every muscle in her body. But she kept herself strong, as she still refused to serve the evil emperor that had taken everything from her ever again. Zarkon grew frustrated as the physical torture hadn't broke her spirit and instructed his druids to use their dark magic to send false visions into her mind, making them do as he commanded as the druids did as instructed and started to torture Haggar mentally.

Haggar saw images of her lover and the Paladins dead, hearing all the people in the universe blame her for all the pain she has caused. Or images of herself as a little girl, seeing her parents who wanted nothing to do with her. As Zarkon believed she was nearly broken, she broke false visions as she yelled out, sending all the druids against the wall with a powerburst. But as she passed out, she had another flashback from her forgotten memories**.**

**Flashback 10'000 years ago when Haggar had turned 14**

_Haggar had woken up in the middle of the night, hearing her parents having a fierce argument in the living room downstairs. She hated it when her parents were like this, as the arguments were getting worse over the years and this one was the worst by far. The teenaged Altean wanted to know what they were talking about so she sneaked out of her room and went downstairs to listen better. When she got into hearing range, she heard her parents' fierce words._

_"You can't do this to her! She has a life here on Altea, we all do!" Haggar's mother yelled, completely against the idea that her husband had for their daughter._

_"Her powers are getting stronger with every year, you know that! They even rival that of Voltron! She has to study across the universe so she could control them!" Haggar's father argued, having been obsessed with finding a way to get Haggar to control her ever increasing powers. So much so that he had been monitoring his daughter's powers every week._

_"But why can't she do it here on Altea, huh?! Tell me!" Haggar's mother demanded._

_"It's too dangerous! What if she can't control her powers if she brings them out again!? She could kill everyone on the entire planet, if not the entire universe!"_

_"How can you say that?! She's not just some time bomb waiting to go off, she's our only child! She would never harm anyone unless her loved ones were in danger or unless she had no other choice!_

_"She will lose control if she's not trained in the proper way! You may have forgotten what she is truly capable of, but I have not!"_

_Then Haggar opened the door wide, surprising her parents as they had thought that she had been asleep. "What I'm capable of?! What do you mean by that, dad?! That I'm a monster ready to kill everyone on Altea or the entire universe!?" The teenaged Altean demanded, getting angry that her father thought of her as a freak._

_Haggar's mother walked up to her, trying to calm her down. "Sweetheart, that's not what your father-" She tried to say but Haggar's father cut his wife off._

_"What I said was that you need to control your powers, Haggar! Trust me, this is what's best for you, Altea and the universe!" _

_"No! I don't want to go! I want to stay here on Altea! I have my life here...and Allura!" Haggar argued, not wanting to leave the life she had on her home planet behind, especially her best friend... and the 1 she was secretly in love with._

_"You can make new friends on other planets." Her father counterd._

_"NO! I WANT TO STAY WITH ALLURA!" Haggar shouted, beginning to get angry._

_But now her father had enough of the argument. "We are going, Haggar! Weather you like it or not! END OF DISCUSSION!"_

_Haggar was feeling her anger rise, wanting to crush her father right then and there as the walls were cracking and the ground was shaking. But when Haggar looked at her mother and saw how afraid she was, the Altean prodigy calmed down. She then could no longer control her tears and ran back upstairs to her room._

_"Haggar!" Haggar's mother called to her as she ran after her, pushing her husband out of her way._

_Haggar buried herself on her pillow, soaking her eyes out as her mother came into her room and slowly sat next to her daughter, rubbing her back. Haggar sat up and embraced her mother as she was sobbing on her shoulder. Making her mother hug her close to her in comfort._

**Flashback end**

After seeing that memory, she finally understood why her father was so obsessed with getting Haggar off Altea to start studying across the universe to learn to control her powers. He wasn't seeing her as a monster, but was trying to protect her, but to her, that still wasn't an excuse to keep her away from Allura, as she now knew that her powers were the result of her desire to protect her loved ones.

As she regained consciousness, the druids were forced to stand up by Zarkon, who ordered them not to stop and to continue torturing Haggar. "More!" He said with fury.

The Druids obeyed their master and started to send more false visions into Haggar's mind, making her yell in pain. But despite being in a false reality, she had something in her to fight back: the memories of her mother, her human friends...and her lover, Allura.

**Meanwhile at the castle/Ship**

Allura had been trying to locate where Zarkon could have taking Haggar for 4 days nonstop. Bags were forming under her eyes, showing that she hadn't slept at all in the passing days. She was tired and so were the Paladins, but she wasn't going to give up on Haggar. Coran had tried to convince her to take some rest, but she rejected any of it, which made him very worried, along with Pidge and her team...even her pet mice.

In the middle of the 4th night, Pidge was checking on her Altean friend while everyone else was getting their rest. But Pidge couldn't sleep, due to being worried about Allura, as well as missing Haggar. The female Paladin got to the bridge and saw that the Altean princess was busy checking for any trace of the wormhole and what course it set. Pidge also saw that Allura's determination was taking a huge high toll on her already bad condition.

When Pidge was close to her friend, she put a hand on her shoulder. "Allura?"

Allura was shocked and startled at first, but was relieved when she saw that it was Pidge. "Oh, it's you, Pidge." She said with tire in her voice before she went back to searching through the data she'd collected.

Pidge tried to tell her something to get the Altean princess to listen to her. "Allura, you have been working on finding Haggar nonstop for 4 days straight. You need to get some rest..."

"No! Haggar is somewhere out there, and I'm not giving up on her!" She said, cutting Pidge off before she brought up another screen.

Pidge wasn't going to give up and said. "Allura, this isn't normal! You need to get some rest or you could become sick-"

"I'm fine, Pidge." Allura said, interrupting her female Paladin.

As Allura went to the main screen, she was stopped by Pidge, who got in front of her. "No, you are not! We all know you deeply care for Hagger, we all do! But that doesn't mean we-"

Allura then pushed Pidge out of the way. "You can rest all you want, but I'm going to keep looking for Haggar, no matter what!"

This made Pidge angry as she couldn't allow her friend's obsession to take anymore of a toll on her then it already had. She then went to the main plug and pulled it, turning off all the power on the bridge and causing all the data Allura had collected to be lost.

"NO! What have you done?!" Allura asked with anger.

"You are getting some rest right now, Allura!" Pidge told her friend with a determined face as she held the plug.

Allura wanted to turn the power back on as she reached out for the plug, but was stopped by Pidge everytime. "No! PLEASE, PIDGE, WE CANNOT ABANDON HAGGAR!"

"Allura, calm down!" Pidge begged.

Then Allura unexpectedly grabbed Pidge by her shirt, pulling her to her as she took the plug and threw the female Paladin to the floor hard in obsessive anger! Allura plugged the power cord up, turning the power back on but as she went to restart the search, she saw Pidge was hurt, making her gasp as she finally saw that her female friend was right. Her obsession with finding Haggar was taking a toll on her that it caused her to hurt the only friend who had been supportive of her and Haggar since her purple skinned princess had been reunited with her and if it continued like this, she may end up going completely insane. And if she was going to hold on to her sanity and her friends, it had to stop now!

The Altean princess ran to help Pidge as she took her into her arms. "Pidge, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you like that! I...just…" As Pidge looked into her eyes, Allura could no longer hold her tears and as she cried, the female Paladin held her close. "I can't lose her, Pidge... not again."

Pidge started to recognize this behavior from Allura. The behavior of a person who had a loved one taken from them, the same as her. As Pidge broke the hug, she looked at her and asked. "Haggar is more than just your best friend, isn't she?" Allura froze in shock, unable to say anything at this point as her female friend continued. "Allura, I know that nobody would so deeply care for a best friend the way you care for Haggar. Tell me what's going on and I'll try to help you. You can tell me anything."

As Allura felt she could trust Pidge after she had supporting them since day 1, she slowly gathered her courage and said. "You're right, Pidge. We are more than just friends. Haggar and I... are in love."

Pidge was shocked for a second. Even though she felt it, it was not what she expected to hear from Allura. "Really? How... long have you two been...?"

Allura sighed as she told Pidge how hers and Haggar's romance started when they were just teenagers back on Altea 10.000 years ago and the promise they'd made to get married in the future they had planned together. After the story was over, Pidge had taken Allura to her room and sat on the bed together with her. "I understand now, Allura, but why didn't you or Haggar tell us before?"

"Haggar and I both promised each other that we should keep our love a secret until everyone had accepted her into the team and the right time had arrived for us to tell everyone. But because Haggar was taking a liking to you because of your support of us ever since we were reunited, we'd tell you 1st before everyone else." Allura revealed with sad eyes as she thought of her darling princess.

Pidge nodded, showing that she understood Allura and Haggar's choice. But then she spoke to her friend. "We care for you Allura. You and Haggar. But you need to get some rest... and...maybe it's better that the others know about you and Haggar." Before Allura could say anything, Pidge continued to explain. "They all need to know, Allura. If you're in love with Haggar, me and the others deserve to know why you are so determined to find her."

Allura thought for a moment, but slowly nodded. "You're right, Pidge. You all deserve to know the truth. You, the other Paladins, even Coran."

Pidge smiled as she covered Allura with her blanket. "Alright. But first, you need to rest. Don't worry, we will find Haggar. I promise." She said gently, making Allura gave her friend a hug before she then left the Altean princess' room, leaving her to sleep.

Allura fell asleep quickly, as her body finally could relax from all the nonstop work. But in her mind, she was vowing to herself. _"Haggar, my darling princess, please hang on. I will come for you and then I'll never let you go again, my love. I promise."_

**In the prison where Haggar was being kept**

The Altean sorceress was trying to keep herself from falling into madness, but then she could hear Allura's voice in her head.

_"Haggar, my darling princess, please hang on. I will come for you and then I'll never let you go again, my love. I promise." _

"Allura?" Haggar asked herself, beginning to have hope that her princess would come for her.

**The next day at the castle/ship in Allura's room**

Allura had woken up and felt a lot better since Pidge helped her. Her pet mice came onto her lap as she sat up straight, making them squeak a little happily as she rubbed their bellies. "How should I tell everyone else about Haggar and me? What will I even start with saying?" She asked herself before getting out of bed. "Whatever happens, I can't keep this up anymore. My obsession with finding my darling princess has already caused me to hurt Pidge and if I don't tell the others now, I'll end up doing it again. I have to tell everyone about Haggar and me now." She said to herself as she got dressed and called the other Paladins to the bridge before she headed there, where Pidge was already waiting for her.

When everyone was gathered, they all (except for Pidge) asked themselves why Allura had called them together. Lance, Keith and Hunk were thinking that it was probably another assignment to search for any trace of Haggar. They had been searching for 4 days and were near exhaustion, Luckily Coran convinced Allura the day before that the Paladins needed their rest. However, Shiro was thinking that it could be something else.

As Allura entered the bridge, she started to say to everyone. "Paladins, Coran, I know you all wonder why I have called you all here today-" she tried to say but was interrupted by Lance.

"Hang on! Before you give us any assignments, there is something we all want to say!" The blue Paladin said in frustration.

Keith then spoke. "Yes. We all want to find Haggar as much as you are, Allura. But we need to have a break! We have been searching for days and are all exhausted!"

Then Hunk spoke. "Yeah... Haggar is our friend, but the search is killing me. I only slept last night for 5 hours 'cause my stomach went crazy after hardly eating for the last few days."

Allura sighed as she said. "I know I have been pushing you all to search for Haggar. All I want to say is that I'm sorry...for everything that's happened the last few days. And...I think I owe all of you an explanation."

Coran ensured her that wasn't necessary. "You don't have to, Allura. We all know how much you care for your best friend."

Allura was getting uncomfortable as she wasn't ready to say it. But after looking at Pidge, who nodded in support, she had the strength to tell the others her secret. "Well, about me and Haggar. There is something you all have to know. We... are actually... more than just best friends."

All the others, except Pidge started to look surprised and Shiro noticed what was troubling the Altean princess. "Wait. Allura...are you telling us that you and Haggar-"

Allura slowly nodded before she revealed the truth. "Yes. Me and Haggar...are in love."

This came as a total surprise to everyone but Pidge, as she had already heard it from Allura yesterday and didn't mind at all. Hunk, Keith and Shiro were nonplussed, but now it it made some sense to them as to why Allura and Haggar were so close. Coran and Lance, on the other hand, were completely stunned until the Keeper of Altea spoke. "You and... Haggar are... in love?! So-so you have been in-" He said I shock before he laughed a bit and asked the princess "Allura. Hahaha. You're just joking, right?"

But Allura looked at him with what seemed like sad eyes, but in a way that she wasn't joking about it and was dead serious. Coran's face fell and his laugh died out. "But...but, it has to be a joke." He said before looking at the other male Paladins before looking at Pidge, who shook her head.

"It's not a joke, Coran. She and Haggar are in love." The Green Paladin revealed.

Keith then asked Pidge. "Wait, how did you know?"

"She told me last night." She answered before she looked at Allura and said. "And I don't mind at all." This warmed Allura's heart that her female human friend supported her in this.

Lance however, was reacting to this in a different way. "No wonder she wouldn't fall for my charms, she's only into women!" That got Allura to look at the Blue Paladin with a fierce look, which made him nervous as he said nervously. "Ehh... not that it bothers me anyway." He said before he nervously laughed before shutting up, as he didn't want to have Haggar on his tail if she heard him saying that.

But Coran had no idea how to cope with this. "No... no no, Allura! This is... unheard of that you, the crown-princess of Altea, is in love with... another Altean women! What would your father say if he was alive?!"

"I don't care what my father would say about this, Coran!" Allura said angrily to her servent/friend.

"You... wouldn't care?! Allura, you are the heir of Altea! The next in line to the Altean monarchy!" Then Coran was beyond control. "BY ALL THE GODS OF THE UNIVERSE, NO, I DON'T ACCEPT THIS! I MAY NOT BE OF ROYALTY BUT I'M SAYING THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! YOU ARE A PRINCESS AND IT IS YOUR JOB TO CONTINUE THE BLOODLINE!"

Now it was Allura that was beyond control. She was now more angry than before that even Coran was scared of her now. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT MY FAMILY BLOODLINE OR THE ALTEAN THRONE! ME AND HAGGAR ARE IN LOVE AND I DON'T CARE WHAT EITHER YOU OR ANYONE ELSE IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE SAYS ABOUT IT!" Even tears were forming in her eyes, but she kept the same anger. "Let me tell you something, Keeper of Altea. 10'000 years ago, if nobody back on Altea would agree to my relationship with Haggar, including my father, I would have ran away with her and we would have started a life of our own, I told Haggar that myself when we went to the mystics to severe her link with Zarkon!"

This caught Coran off guard after she said that. "You...would...but you are the princess!"

"I don't care that I am a princess! I love Haggar and she loves me!" She then looked at the other Paladins, while Paige rubbed her back so that she would calm down. With tears in her eyes she said. "Now you all know why I have been so obsessed with finding Haggar. I can't lose her again!"

Then Shiro said as he walked up to Allura. "It's alright, Allura. We understand. And.. if you and Haggar are in love, it doesn't bother me at all." He said with a smile, making Allura smile as she whipped away her tears. Coran wanted to protest but was interrupted by Shiro. "It won't bother us! Look Coran, I don't know how you handle this in your culture, but back on Earth, we have a saying: Love is love. So you know what? Who cares that Allura is a princess and is in love with another woman, it doesn't bug me at all."

Shiro looked at Hunk, who said. "No, I think it is a beautiful thing for them to be together."

Then Shiro looked at Keith, who said. "It doesn't bother me at all."

Then Lance, who sighed. "I may have lost my chances with Allura... but you know what? Let them be together, then at least I can focus on the ladies who DO have an eye for me." He said, making Shiro smile as he rolled his eyes of Lance's macho behavior.

Coran couldn't believe that the Paladins were not against it, but rather supported it. "But... Allura is a princess... and she…"

Shiro then faced Coran. "Coran, I have nothing against you or your culture, but Allura and Haggar are part of our team and we are all into this fight against Zarkon. If you bugs you too much, then at least be there for Allura in our fight and try to accept how she is."

Coran then looked at Allura and thought about how she and Haggar are truly impossible to separate, even if one of them has the duty of being the next Altean queen. He dropped his face and said reluctantly. "Well... If you really love Haggar so much and the Paladins are supporting you, then... I guess I can try to cope with it."

Allura was so happy that everyone had accepted her being in love with Haggar. The Altean princess felt like a heavy weight on her shoulders was lifted as all the Paladins stood close to he before Hunk said. "We will find Haggar. That's a promise... from all of us."

All the Paladins nodded as tears of joy came from Allura as she hugged the Paladins. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

**6 days later**

Since Allura had told the others that she and Haggar are a couple, things had gotten a little better for everyone. But Coran however was still struggling to get used to the fact his princess is in love with another Altean women, but he was showing he was trying to accept it. As for Allura, she had now calmed down, but was still not giving up on finding where her lover could have been taken.

It was nearly the end of the day and the Paladins had just returned from Altea to search for any clue to find where Zarkon could have taken Haggar to. They were slowed down after a distress call from the Magna system that needed help after rising up against the Galra but after forming Voltran, the Paladins were successful in liberating the planet Magna from the Galra. When they all came to the bridge, Allura walked to them. "I had received your message. You all did well on liberating the inhabitants of Magna from the Galra." But she still wanted to know if they had found any clue on Haggar had been taken. "Did you... find anything that could lead to Haggar?" she asked with concern.

Shiro shook his head with regret. "I'm sorry, Allura. We have checked for any trace around Altea and the nearby planets, but couldn't find anything where Zarkon's ship was heading to."

Allrua sighed in sadness, as she was expecting that answer. "Then we need to look in the nearby systems around Altea. There must be a clue or at least a trace from there." She said as she went back over the controls while making another plan to keep searching for Haggar.

Lance then said to the determined princess. "But Allura, we checked those systems a few days ago already.

"I know you had already checked those, but maybe if we follow the course that Zarkon's ship took, then we will find out where Haggar could be right now!" Allura said as she had figured out a new plan to search for her darling princess.

Hunk then said nervously. "I... don't want to be complaining about this, but... if we check every system that Zarkon's ship passed, it will take us weeks to find Haggar, months even!"

Allura looked a bit angry to Hunk, but calmed down after realizing that it was true that it would take too long to find her beloved. "_So...is it really hopeless? Are Haggar and I not meant to have our happiness in this life?"_

Then Keith said. "Hunk is right, princess. There must be another way to find Haggar faster... before it is too late."

Allura knew he was right and said sadly. "Maybe you are right that this will take too long to find Haggar, but I just can't think of anything else to find her faster."

Then Pidge started to think until she remembered something important and said. "Hey wait a minute! You and Haggar formed that mental connection together, right?"

Allura nodded. "Yes"

"Well, can you try to use it to locate Haggar. I mean, like Zarkon had used a similar connection with the Black Lion to locate us?"

"Hey yeah! You can just use it to find Haggar, then we won't have to search every planet one at a time!" Lance said enthusiastically.

All the Paladins and Coran agreed that it would work, but Allura started to explain it was not that simple "It's not that simple, everyone. Haggar and I had only used it to small distances, like how we could find each other in the castle. We had never fully mastered it to try something like this!"

Pidge then walked to her friend. "Allura, me and the others had to deal with the same thing when we couldn't form Voltron when we 1st became Paladins. And in the end, you're faith in all of us had made us to form Voltron at last. Trust me, Allura, if we can do the impossible, then so can you. And I'm not giving up on you or Haggar... none of us are." The Green Paladin said with a smile.

This warmed Allura's heart and she gave the Green Paladin a hug, which she returned.

Allura then spoke when she broke the hug. "Alright, I'm going to try to locate Haggar through our mental link. In the meantime, you will search the other systems for clues...after getting some rest." All the Paladins nodded, showing that they agreed with this. "Okay, you all get yourselves some rest. I will be in my room to figure out to locate Haggar with our mental link."

When everyone was about to leave, Keith noticed Coran hadn't spoken a single word when they came back. He walked up to him and asked. "Coran, you were very quiet in there. Normally you would speak more than any of us."

Coran sighed as they walked out of the bridge. "I'm sorry, Keith. But I..."

"You are still not comfortable with Allura being with... Haggar?"

Coran nodded. "Yes Keith. She is the heir to the throne, the last of her line. How can the bloodline continue if a new heir won't be around anytime soon? That would be the end of the monarchy."

Then Keith said. "Well... maybe a republic could work?"

This surprised Coran completely, he stopped and said very seriously. "A republic?! Preposterous! Altea had been a monarchy for thousands of years and the system had always worked!" But then he became sad as he walked further. "Besides, what's the use of it anyway, if me, Allura and Haggar are the only Alteans left in the universe?"

Keith didn't said anything else after that. He left Coran and went to his own room. But Keith was thinking that there could maybe be a chance that there could be more Altean survivors, somewhere in the universe.

**Meanwhile with Haggar**

Haggar was still fastened to the same steel wall as when she arrived in this prison, or whatever this place was. There were scratches and bruises all over her body from the torture and she even barely slept, for when she tried, she was then put into another illusion by the druids to torture her in her mind, but thankfully was always able to break it.

Zarkon became more frustrated and furious as the days have gone by without Haggar being turned back to his side. "GRRRAAAAAAH! WHY CAN'T I BREAK HER!?" He yelled in fury as he smashed some controls, breaking them with his power.

All the soldiers were scared of their master, even the druids became nervous. Then a Galra scientist walked to him and tried to say. "Ehm... my lord-"

But then he was instantly grabbed by the throat by Zarkon. "What is it?!"

The scientist couldn't breath and tried to say. "The... machine... you asked for... is ready..."

Zarkon smirked as he released the scientist, who gasped for air. Zarkon chuckled evilly. "Good. Prepare your machine for my 'former high priestess'.

But then the scientist tried to say. "But, my lord... the Quintessence Drainer is only a prototype, it hasn't been tested yet and..."

Zarkon grabbed him by the throat again and smacked him to a wall. "Then you will test it ON HAGGAR!"

Nervously, the scientist nodded. "Y-y-yes, my Lord."

The scientist left for a few minutes before entering the cell again with the machine and Zarkon. Haggar opened her eyes, seeing the scientist putting a lot of needle-plugs in her body that really hurt her. "Arrgh! What... what are doing with me? Another one of your tortures, Zarkon?" She asked, mocking the 1 being who ruined her life and nearly took everything from her.

Zarkon didn't say anything but the scientist then said to her. "What I'm about to do... is using one of my new inventions on you, Haggar. A machine that you remember pretty well." Haggar didn't understand as the scientist went on. "After all, you approved the project. Project QD, also known as 'The Quintessence Drainer.'

Haggar's eyes went wide as she remembered the project that a Galra scientist was trying to make, but died before it could be finished. "What?! But…I thought it-?!"

"Was shut down? Yes, but after you... betrayed the empire, Lord Zarkon contacted me and I finished the project my grandfather started." He explained as he put the last needle-plug in Haggar's neck, making her get scared. The scientist started up the machine as he explained further to her. "We are going to drain all the Quintessence from your body, and there should be quiet amount of it, since you used a lot to keep yourself alive for 10.000 years. Once that has been done, you should be prepared for the side-effects that you will physically and mentally experience. For example: faster old age, weakening bones, damage to the nerve-system, fever, schizophrenia, madness and eventually... death." The scientist started powering on the machine as he continued. "Lord Zarkon insisted to use you as the first test subject. And since you have a lot of Quintessence, you are the perfect subject for this."

But as the scientist wanted to turn the machine on, Zarkon held his hand "Hold." He ordered, making the scientist obey as Zarkon walked to Haggar and faced her. "You have heard the scientist, Haggar. What you are about to embrace is far more worse then the tortures I put you through, but you can still save yourself... and your princess. Rejoin me, or die."

Haggar was scared of what would happen, but she was not going to betray the woman she loved, nor her Earth friends for anything, even her own life. She spit in Zarkon's face when she said with fury. "I... WILL... NEVER REJOIN YOU, YOU BASTARD!"

Zarkon looked angrily at her as he whipped away the spit from his face before looking at the scientist and nodding his head. The scientist pressed a button and the machine started, making Haggar scream as she felt the worst pain she had ever felt in her whole life. "AAAAAAAAAAARRRGH!" Haggar could feel the Quintessence leave her body slowly from the tubes that were plugged to her and slowly filled a tank with quintessence. After some minutes, the last of quintessence was drained out of her and the scientist turned the machine off. Haggar breathed heavily from all the pain as she felt different and weak.

The scientist then faced her while taking some notes. "You might be feeling a bit weak in the first few hours, but that will slowly go away. You may not feel any of the side effects yet, but they will slowly sink in, while I keep a full track of what will happen to you." He said while smirking. Then the scientist took the machine, full with quintessence and left the cell together with Zarkon before he asked his emperor while looking at Haggar through a monitor. "My lord, what do you want me to do with all the Quintessence?"

"Keep it in your lab, doctor. If Haggar rejoins me, the Quintessence you collected will be given back to her." Zarkon answered.

The scientist understood, but asked another thing. "And... what if she doesn't?"

Zarkon then looked at him while taking a file that said 'Top secret' in Galran language and gave it to the scientist. When he took it and read it, his eyes went wide as he faced his master. "If my high priestess still refuses to rejoin me, then you will begin with my backup plan. The Quintessence you have collected are then to be used for this project."

He nodded as Zarkon looked at him fiercely. "And remember, no one else but only you and I are to know about this. Understand?!"

"Y-y-yes, my lord." The scientist answered before he left the hallway and took the Quintessence with him to his personal lab.

After some hours, Haggar was starting to feel weaker. Her body was beginning to age and she was breathing heavily before she heard a voice in her head.

_"Haggar."_

"What...? Who's there?"

_"Haggar." _The voice repeated.

Haggar tried to keep herself under control but then was starting to feel dizzy as sweat came from her head. She then saw something in front of her that looked like dark clouds, forming a head of herself.

_"Haggar." _The voice in the dark clouds repeated.

"Who... who are you?" she asked the thing in front of her, but then shook her head, as it was just an illusion. "No. You're not real."

_"I am you... and you are me... Don't fight it... or you will be killed... you heard what Zarkon said... join him and save your friends."_

"No! I will not join him, not again!" Haggar said definitely.

The voice went away but Haggar was feeling more weaker as she was now nearly 24 hours without Quintessence. Her hair was now pure white and she was now looking like a 60 year old woman. "I... need quintessence... I need. NO! fight it Haggar! Fight it!" She said to herself, refusing to give in. However, Haggar was feeling more schizophrenic as the voice in her head was getting stronger.

_"Why are you still fighting it, Haggar? Why do you still not embrace me as you did before?" _The voice asked the rapidly aging Altean.

"Because you're not real!"

Haggar looked around as the illusion was gone, making her sigh in relief. But then the dark cloud with Haggar's face was right in front of her.

_"I AM VERY REAL, HAGGAR AND YOU KNOW IT!"_

Haggar gasped as the dark cloud showed her a vision of the Paladins and Allura reject and disown her.

_"You are a monster!" _Shiro said_._

Then Lance_. "You don't belong with us!"_

Then Keith_. "We trusted you!"_

Then Hunk_. "You used us!"_

Then Coran. _"You never deserved Allura!"_

_"I thought you were my friend, but I was wrong!" _Pidge yelled.

_"I loved you, Haggar, and you killed all those people!" _Allura yelled before turning her back on Haggar forever.

Haggar knew that this wasn't real and closed her eyes tight and shook her head heavily. "NO NO! NO! NO! NO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! GET OUT!"

The voices stopped as she opened her eyes, but the cloud began to take the form of a person and Haggar was shocked to see that it was the form of herself, but then far more evil. This counterpart was wearing the darkest cloak like the 1 she wore when she served Zarkon, had black and red eyes and raven black long hair.

It smirked as the dark counterpart floated towards her. "_You can never escape me!"_ The dark version of Haggar said darkly before she went back in the real Haggar's head to torture her in her mind with the worst illusions ever possible.

Haggar yelled as she felt more mental pain._ "_AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

**Meanwhile back with Allura in her room**

Allura had sat on hers and Haggar's bed as she had tried nearly nonstop to master her mental link with her darling princess, but each time was unsuccessful. She broke her meditation and sobbed. "I can't do it. I… just can't do it."

Then someone knocked on her door saying. "Allura? It's me, Pidge."

Allura whipped her tears off her cheeks and said. "Come in, Pidge."

Pidge came in and saw that her friend was not feeling good. "Are you... alright, Allura?" She asked with concern.

"I can't do it, Pidge. No matter how I try, I can't do it!"

Pidge sat next to her and stroked her back. She wanted to see how she could help reunite her 2 friends.

"I tried nearly everything. Focusing on her or the nearby planets, but still nothing." Allura explained with sadness.

Pidge then thought of something. "I... think I know what the problem is."

Allura looked at her friend. "Really? What could it be?"

"I think you have too many thoughts in your mind." Pidge answered.

"Too many thoughts?"

Pidge nodded. "Yes. You focus on Haggar, the planets, and on the stars. Too many focuses. I know I'm no expert on these things, but you should try this: try not to focus on anything at all. Clear your head, no thoughts at all.

Allura thought that it was worth a try. "Okay. I'll try." She went back to meditating and told herself. "No mind." Allura tried hard by not thinking of anything, though it was hard for all she could think of her darling princess. But after some minutes of trying, she cleared her head and was not thinking of anything, not even talking to herself.

**In Allura's mind**

_The Altean princess saw all the stars and planets in the universe but kept her focus, even if it was amazingly beautiful._

_Then Allura heard a voice that she had wanted to hear for days: the voice of her darling princess. "Allura! Allura!"_

_Suddenly, the Altean princess' spirit was dragged through time and space as she saw so many stars and galaxies passing her, until she was on a planet that was filled with many Galra warships, and...a base. Allura then saw through the walls her beloved Haggar, nearly driven into madness as she was yelling out. "NOOO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! ALLURAAAAAA!"_

**Outside of Allura's mind**

"HAGGAR!" Allura yelled as her eyes opened wide.

Pidge came to her and held her arms. "Allura! What did you see?!"

She looked at the Green Paladin and said. "I... I know where Haggar is."

Not long after, Allura informed Coran and the other Paladins of what she has seen and the location where Haggar was being held. She opened the map of the galaxy and the planet system before speaking. "Haggar is being held captive on planet Epatovo. It holds not only the largest shipyard of the Galra Empire, but also holds the largest military base."

Coran checked on more information on the military planet. "According to some sources, the planet and the shipyard together held more than 10 billion Galra forces and 1/4 of the entire Galra fleet in the universe."

Shiro was getting suspicious of the planet as he spoke. "That sounds more like the Galra are planning for something. Perhaps conquering new planets for Zarkon."

Coran nodded. "Yes, there is a big chance they are planning just that."

Lance then did a soldier pose. "I say we use Voltron and smash those Galra soldiers to pieces!"

Everyone rolled their eyes before Allura spoke. "It's not that simple, Lance. The planet is strictly guarded. We will be detected if we get 100 light years close to the base. We need to think about how we can enter the base without being noticed."

Everyone was thinking deep on what to do but Allura was ready for anything to go and rescue her lover. Then Shiro thought of something and checked the information about the base. It said that the planet was indeed being monitored, but also read that each day, over 100 transport ships are supplying the planet with food, weapons, soldiers and ammunition. As Shiro continued to read, he thought deeply and then... had the most brilliant idea ever! "Guys, I think I know how we can get ourselves to the base, without being detected and get Haggar out of there."

All were eager to listen to Shiro's plan. "What is your plan, Shiro?" Keith asked.

Shiro smiled and said. "Two words: Trojan, but in this case, Voltron Horse."

Allura and Coran raised an eyebrow as they had no idea what he meant by that, but the human Paladins thought it was brilliant. "That... THAT'S A GENIUS IDEA, SHIRO!" Pidge said very happy.

"Of course, why didn't I think of that? We pass the Galra unnoticed and then... BANG BANG BANG! They won't know what hit them!" Lance said as he was pretending he was shooting some Galra.

Coran really didn't know what Shiro or the Paladins were talking about. "Hold on! What are you guys talking about?"

"Yes. Even I don't understand where this is going." Allura said.

Shiro then explained his plan so the two Alteans would better understand it. "Okay, let me explain. We commandeer one of the Galra transport ships heading for Epatovo. When we do that, we disguise ourselves as Galra soldiers, land on the base, look for Haggar, free her and get out of there."

Coran was astounded to how well this idea could work. "That's... not a bad idea at all! Even I could have thought about that." he said, thinking how well he could have thought about this amazing idea himself.

But there was something else Allura needed to say of what she saw and said to Shiro "That's a great idea, Shiro. But if we want to free Haggar, we need to do it fast."

"What do you mean we have to go fast?"

"When I saw where Haggar was located... I sensed she was hurt and... her life energy was slowly getting weaker. Paladins, if we don't move fast... she will die!" Allura answered with concern for her darling princess as a tear came from her eye, not wanting to lose her true love if they waited for too long.

Everyone looked at each other as they felt for Allura because of how much Haggar meant to her and to them, especially Pidge. Then Shiro said determent. "Then we are going now!" He said as he put his helmet on, along with the other Paladins as they were as determined as their leader to save their friend. "Pidge, you load all the data from every Galra transport that heads for Epatovo!"

"Right!" the Green Paladin said as she went on her computer to download all the data.

Then Shiro looked at the rest of the Paladins. "I'll tell the whole plan on the way. Everyone get to your lions!"

"Right!"

Allura said while putting on her suit. "I'm going with you guys... and you, too, Coran!"

Coran was surprised that the princess told him that. "Oh.. ehh... shouldn't I stay here to watch the castle? If we are all going together, the castle will be easy to catch."

Allura shook her head. "Don't worry about that, we will leave the castle to where we can get to it and keep it cloaked. But listen, Coran, we need everyone on this, including you. Please, i'm not asking this as your princess, I'm asking this to you as a friend." She said with sad eyes to her servant/friend.

Coran was touched by Allura's words and after some thinking, he said. "Alright, Princess." He put on his suite and smiled, making Allura do the same.. "I'm coming with you guys."

When the team got the Castle cloaked at a safe location, far away from the Galra, All the Paladins were on their Lions, with Allura on the Black Lion and Coran on the green one.

As they went through a wormhole, Shiro explained the plan. "Okay, this is how it's gonna go. Pidge, you use your Lion's cloaking device to sneak on the ship together with Coran. Once your inside, you disable monitors around the ship and turn the security systems against the Galra soldiers, but don't let anyone at the bridge notice, otherwise this whole operation will fail. Then you lead me and the rest of the crew inside through the cargo area. Once we have all gathered, Pidge will disable all communications on board, so the Galra can't signal for help. Once we have taken control over the bridge, Allura will take over the controls and head for Epatovo while Coran steals the security codes that we can use to get deeper into the base. While we all disguise ourselves as Galra soldiers so nobody will suspect a thing. Once we have landed, we proceed with phase 2: rescuing Haggar."

But then Lance interrupted Shiro. "But why do we need to take the Lions with us? Won't the Galra notice them once we have landed on the base?"

Shiro explained further. "We don't need to worry that the Galra will detect the Lions. All the transport ships are on a waiting list once they have landed and the fastest 1 to be loaded out is within 2 days."

The Paladins understood but still wanted to know why they really needed the Lions, so Hunk asked. "We understand Shiro, but you still didn't tell us what we need the Lions for."

Shiro then explained it. "The Lions are needed for phase 3 after we have rescued Haggar. We use the Lions in our escape and form Voltron to destroy the base and the whole Galra fleet, including the ships that are still being constructed. The reason we need to do that is because we cannot leave a base like that intact like this. If we don't destroy that army and that fleet, the Galra can conquer even more planets."

Everyone understood but Hunk then said. "But Shiro... what if we don't succeed?"

But Shiro was determined. "We must succeed, Hunk, because we have only 1 shot at this if we want to save Haggar in time."

All the Paladins, Allura and Coran nodded. "Then there is no time to lose, Paladins!" Allura said to encourage everyone.

**Later **

The first phase of their so called 'Operation: Voltron Horse' was going flawless. They had taken control over the ship and taken out all Galra soldiers inside in less than 10 minutes.

While Allura set the ship on automatic pilot for Epatovo, she wanted to know where Trojan Horse came from and asked Shiro, who was putting on a Galra uniform. "Shiro, where exactly does 'Trojan Horse' come from?"

Shiro looked to Allura and answered. "It's from a part of our human history back on Earth. 3'000 years ago, there was a fierce war being fought between the city states of Greece and the Kingdom of Troy. For more than a decade, neither side could gain the upper hand. But then a Greek general came up with the idea to make a giant wooden horse, as a gift to Troy for offering peace. But inside the wooden horse were a group of Greek soldiers. Now, the Trojans believed the Greeks wanted peace and accepted the wooden Horse and brought the whole thing inside the city. So while everyone in Troy thought they had won, the Greek soldiers inside the wooden statue remained silent until it was dark and everyone was asleep. Once it was quiet in the city, the Greek soldiers sneaked out of the wooden horse and opened the city gates for the Greek army. And so, Troy was conquered and the Greeks had won. That's how this sneaking tactic was born: Trojan Horse."

Allura understood it now and started to wear also a Galra uniform. When Allura was alone for a moment, she used her mental link to call for Haggar to tell her that she was coming to save her. She closed her eyes and focused. _"Haggar, my love. Please hang on. We are coming for you. Please hang on!"_

**Meanwhile with Haggar**

The dying Altean sorceress was feeling very weak, feeling her life slowly slipping away. She had nearly reached the point of madness as the voice of her evil counterpart kept tempting her to lore her back to the dark side. But then she heard Allura's voice. "_Haggar, my love. Please hang on. We are coming for you. Please hang on!"_

Haggar's eyes went wide and a smile grew on her face. "Allura... my dear princess... please hurry..." She said weakly as her face fell, having nearly no strength left.

The voice of Haggar's dark counterpart tried to block the mental link with Allura. "_No! Don't listen to her, Haggar! She was only slowing you down and holding you back!"_

Haggar became angry as she yelled out. "ENOUGH! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! GO BACK TO WHATEVER REALM YOU CAME FROM AND JUST DIIIIIEEEE!"

Haggar's evil counterpart was furious for her other not embracing her. But then she smirked and whispered before disappearing. _"Like I said, Haggar. You. Can. Never. Escape. Me."_

Haggar felt relieved that her evil counterpart finally left her alone, but she prayed that Allura and the Paladins would hurry, for she felt that she couldn't hang on much longer. _"Allura, my sweet princess... If you can hear me... please... hurry_." She thought to herself before she fell into unconsciousness.

**Back with Allura, the Paladins and Coran**

Allura had heard her lovers voice through her mental link and looked at everyone. "Everyone, we need to hurry." She said with urgency, making the others nod before she contacted her darling princess. "_Hold on, Haggar, my darling princess, I'm coming for you. And when I have you back with me, I'll never let you go ever again."_

**There you go, my friends, the chapter is finally complete. The next chapter will have Allura and the others rescue Haggar, the 2 lovers' 'first time' and what Zarkon's secret project is for the Quintessence taken from Haggar's body. Rate and review. See you soon, my friends.**


	8. Voltron Horse and Washing the Past Away

**Voltron Horse and Washing away the Past**

"A...Allu... Allura... Allura..." Haggar spoke softly to herself, still fastened to the same steel wall, as she had been for nearly 2 weeks now. The Quintessence Drainer had sucked all the quintessence from her body just 2 days ago, the very same substance that had kept her alive for the past 10.000 years and now her body was taking a high toll for being without quintessence for so long. The Altean sorceress was now looking like a far aged old women, now more bone than skin. Her body was shaking as she tried to keep her mind on her lover, Allura and the human Paladins. She was slowly falling into madness, but still felt hope as she could sense that Allura was getting closer, coming to rescue her.

The door of her cell opened and the bright light that lit up the cell not only blinded her but hurt her eyes because of her condition, but she could see that it was Zarkon who entered. Haggar wanted to mock him like she did before, but had no energy left to do it anymore, so she only stared at him with a glare.

The Garlan emperor broke the silence with a serious face. "Now you see, Haggar. This is the price you have to pay for your disobedience. It will be a pity to let such talent like yours be wasted." But before Haggar could say anything, her eyes saw what Zarkon held in his right hand: a bottle of quintessence. Her eyes went wide and her breathing became heavy. Zarkon noticed what she saw and smirked as he held the bottle closer to her face leaning it from left to right tauntingly. "You want this, don't you? The only thing that can keep you alive." Haggar started to get crazy, like a junkie would because the only thing that could keep her alive a bit longer was right in front of her. He softly said to her. "All you have to do is rejoin me and all that is in this bottle is yours, along with every last drop of it that was drained out of you."

Haggar was so tempted as she felt her addiction to the Quintessence was taking over her body. Her mind fought hard, but she was losing the battle and was about to accept the offer. But then she heard her lovers voice in her mind.

_"Haggar! We are almost at Epatovo, my darling princess! Just hang on, my love! We are almost there!"_

Zarkon was seeing that she wasn't paying any more attention to the bottle of Quintessence, but didn't know what it was. "_What could be so important that she would turn her attention away from the 1 thing that could save her life?"_

After hearing her lover's voice Haggar faced Zarkon with her last bit of anger. "I... would rather die... than ever rejoin you... again... you bastard..." she said before she coughed.

Zarkon lowered the bottle of quintessence and looked fiercely at her. "So be it" He said, seeing now that Haggar would not rejoin him. He then signaled for 1 of his soldiers to come in and took a sample of Haggar's blood using a blood drained before left, with Zarkon doing the same after breaking the bottle. The evil Galra Emperor then contacted through a comlink the same scientist that used the Quintessence Drainer on Haggar.

"Yes, my lord?" The scientist asked.

Zarkon looked serious at him saying. "My former high priestess still refuses to rejoin me, doctor."

This made the scientist smirk as he knew where this was going. "So that means...?"

"Yes, you have authorization to start the project with the quintessence you have required"

"Or course, my lord! I will begin at once!"

But Zarkon interrupted him to speak further. "Not so fast, doctor. I want you to move your belongings to my flagship. I want to see this project personally, the very instant it is completed!"

This made the scientist very happy, for doing research on Zarkon's ship was for him the ultimate honor. "Yes, yes of course, my lord! I will move my stuff... and the necessary equipment for the project immediately to your vessel at once."

"Then do it" Zarkon ordered before he broke the connection with the scientist. Then he contacted the leader of his personal squad that helped him capture Haggar. "Commander."

"Yes, my lord?"

Prepare my shuttle. We are leaving this planet."

"Yes, my lord!" The Commander said before Zarkon broke off contact and left to return to his flagship.

**Meanwhile on the transport ship, with team Voltran on it**

"Just ten more clicks before we reach Epatovo, everyone!" Coran told his team and friends.

Everyone nodded as they were ready. The Paladins were curious at how big this military base and shipyard truly is, but their main goal was to save their Altean friend. When the ship came out of light speed, everyone's eyes went wide as how massive the shipyard truly was. There were millions of ships docked, with many other ships under construction.

Hunk was getting nervous and asked Coran. "Ehh... Coran? How many Galra ships are there?"

Coran checked on his screen and answered. "Nearly 10 million starships and 74% of them are already almost completed."

Lance then asked Shiro. "Shiro? How are we going to destroy all of this in such a short time?"

Shiro then said with astonishment. "It's... bigger then I imagined it was. The best course is that we focus on the ships that are already done, then afterwards we destroy the others and the rest of the shipyard."

"Won't the whole base immediately respond when we form Voltran?" Keith asked, thinking that a base like this would be on high alert, especially when Voltron was formed.

Pidge checked her screen and answered before Shiro could think of something. "We don't need to worry about that. According to my scanners, the only real threat were the defence systems responding to non-Galra ships and are only programmed to shoot them to keep them from entering the system.

But since we are already in..." Lance concluded while smirking. "The heart of the operation are the weakest! This will be a major blow to the Galra, guys!" He said enthusiastically.

But Allura then interrupted them before they could get carried away. "Hold on, Paladins! Our main focus is to rescue Haggar!"

Shiro nodded in agreement, along with Pidge. "Allura is right. First we rescue Haggar, then we can start on demolishing this base."

Then Coran got an incoming call from the planet surface and told his team and friends. "It's them! Get into your positions everyone!" All of them nodded and went to their places on the bridge, so the Galra who contacted won't notice anything.

As everyone was on their places, Coran opened the channel, revealing a Galra officer responding. "Transport 21877, you are now in range of the Epatovo base. Please send us your access code."

Coran nodded as he cleared his throat to put on a Galra accent. "Y-yes sir! Of course sir! Ehh... Vrepit Sa!" He said, clearly nervous.

The Galra office raised an eyebrow in suspicion, but shrugged it off said. "Eh... right, just send me the codes and I'll clarify your entrance." Coran nodded and typed in a few buttons to send the code he just got out of the ship's systems, with Allura and the Paladins hoping he wouldn't screw it up. After hearing nothing from the Galra officer for a minute, he responded again. "Transport 21877, you are allowed to land on landing station 45-81"

"Right away, sir! We will land on landing station 46-81!"

The Galra officer sighed in annoyance as he corrected Coran. "Ugh! It's 45-81! 46-81 is on the other side of the planet!"

Coran tried to make it clear while still nervous. "Right, right! that's what i meant... 45-81... not 46-81, cause... that would be stupid and... not a good idea at all" he said as he nervously smiled while sweating. Everyone was thinking that Coran was about to screw everything up but the Galra officer said before breaking contact. "Indeed. Landing station 45-81"

Everyone sighed in relief before Allura walked up to Coran and asked. "Are you alright?"

Coran shook his head. "No... no i'm terribly nervous! We are about to land on the most highly secured Galra base in the universe, with little chance of escape!"

"Calm down, Coran. That's why we have the Lions with us."

Coran took a moment to get his head together. "Okay. I can do this. I can do this."

Allura smiled at her friend/servant. But as the ship entered the atmosphere and had a clear sight over the enormous military base, she became worried and said to herself. "Just hang on, Haggar, my darling princess. We're coming for you."

After the transport ship had landed on landing station 45-81, the whole ship was moved into a massive hanger by itself, where hundreds of other transport ships were docked.

Shiro hoped that the Galra won't notice anything. "_Please don't let anyone Galra notice anything suspicious."_

When the ship got docked, another message came, which was a recorded message where a female Galra introduced the many accommodations of the base. "_Welcome to Epatovo base, the largest military operation in the empire! Please be noticed that because of the long waiting line, your transport ship won't be loaded out for a certain amount of time. So while you are waiting for your ship to be loaded out, enjoy the many things our base has to offer you: a good night's sleep, training, food, entertainment and much more! According to our 'waiting list', you're ship won't be loaded out until 3 days, and 4 hours. Once you've exited your vessel, our staff will escort you to your personal quarters, if you have any questions, don't be shy to ask. Enjoy your stay on Epatovo!_"

Hunk was getting a watery mouth when the lady mentioned food. While the team were about to exit the transport ship, Shiro told them phase 2 of the plan. "Alright, now that we are in, now follows phase 2 of our rescue plan: We will be allowed to be escorted to our quarters. But once we are alone with them, we knock them out and Allura will use her mental link to find Haggar's exact whereabouts. With the security codes that Coran had obtained, we will be able to get deeper inside the base. Try to blend in and don't do anything suspicious till we find Haggar."

That was when Lance asked. "But Shiro, what if the Galra notice us?"

Shiro then looked serious. "Then we follow the backup plan: we fight our way to Haggar." Everyone nodded, but Coran was again getting very nervous and Hunk was still thinking of what kind of food this base could have, as the videorecording showed that it looked delicious.

As the team exited the ship, they were greeted by two Galra officers, who escorted them out of the hanger before they entered some kind of automatic controlled monorail train that brought them into the base. After they got off of it, Shiro noticed that nobody was around, nor any security cameras around and knew that this was the right moment to strike. "NOW!". Before the officers knew what hit them, they were knocked out by the Paladins.

Allura then used her mental link to locate Haggar and after a short time, she opened her eyes and informed her friends. "She's being held in a cell, close to the experimental labs. But we have to hurry, Paladins! I sensed that Haggar is losing life energy fast!"

Pidge was very worried after hearing that. "_No. I can't lose another friend like I lost my family. I can't!"_

Shiro knew that there was no time to lose. "Which way, Allura?"

Allura pointed to another monorail train that would take them where Haggar was located. "We use that 1."

"Alright, let's move up team!" Shiro ordered his team. When they went into the monorail, it moved on its own to where the experimental labs where before Pidge took her laptop out to plug it into the main system.

"What are you doing, Pidge?" Lance asked with curiosity.

"Seeing if there is any weak spot on this base that we could use against the Galra once we've saved Haggar and entered phase 3." Pidge answered. As they were halfway to the experimental labs, the green Paladin found something inside the power source. "Guys check this out! I found something that provides so much power to keep the base operational. It's a powerful energy crystal with the power of..." Her eyes went wide at what her calculations were saying.

"What Pidge? How much power?" Allura asked her closet Paladin friend as she put her hand on her shoulder.

"It's... unbelievable! That crystal has the power to power up a over 100 earths!" Pidge answered, seeing that the power of the crystal was enough to power 100 planets in the universe.

"So?" Lance asked.

Pidge explained. "Well, even though this crystal provides the power this base needs, it's also very unstable. If my calculations are correct, when we form Voltran and destroy the crystal, the power it will release will be powerful enough to destroy the whole base!"

Keith knew that this is what they could use in their advantage. "Then after we save Haggar, we destroy the crystal with Voltron and it'll will save us a lot of time destroying the base the old fashioned way." He said, making Shiro nod.

After they arrived at the experimental labs, they all tried to blend in with the other Galra security forces. Allura kept using her mental link to show the others the way to Haggar but she felt that they really needed to hurry or they could be too late to save her lover.

The Altean princess even heard Haggar's voice in her head calling out to her._ "Al..lura... please... hu..rry." _

Allura tried to hold her tears as she mentally said back. _"Hold on, my love. Just hold on!_"

None of the Galra forces seemed to notice anything suspicious until the team reached the entrance to the most secured part of the labs. One officer stopped them saw them and yelled out. "Halt! No unauthorized personal are allowed in here!"

Coran nervously faced them before saying. "Well... uhm... we have... special permission to enter this facility, sir!"

The officer didn't buy it and asked very seriously. "Who gave you this permission?"

"Uhm... emperor.. Zarkon..." Coran answered while smiling very nervously.

The officer raised an eyebrow. "Really? I never received anything about this."

"Oh.. the... the communications on Zarkon's ship are out! But they... told us to go ahead anyway"

The officer started to suspect something and said. "That's odd. Zarkon's ship is always working in perfect order. What are the security codes to this sector?"

Coran knew the answer already. "Oh simple! It's Parking Red 52156-09!"

The officer then held his hand on his gun, as he in something was wrong. "That was the code to this sector yesterday."

Coran was now really nervous to the point of almost freaking out. _"How could I have missed this?!"_

The officer gave him a deadly glare. "I ask you again, what are the security codes to this sector?"

Then at that moment, Allura felt Haggar was close, but she was weakening... she was dying! Without even thinking, she ran straight to the entrance after she pushed the officer aside, making him fall to the ground. The other Galra soldiers tried to stop her, but Hunk stopped them just in time by shooting all the Galra with his gun.

Pidge ran after Allura, worried for her friend. "Allura, wait!" She yelled out, making the other Paladins follow her as well.

The Galra officer that was on the ground wanted to get up, but in a heroic act, Coran punched him, knocking him out but it hurt his hand. "Ouch! That hurt!" He then heard the alarm was activated "INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!". Coran saw several Galra soldiers coming and firing on him. Coran was able to avoid the blast shots and grabbed the officer's gun but he was scared as he was hiding. He looked at where Allura and the Paladins went and he knew that if he didn't stop these soldiers, Allura and the Paladins would be surrounded. He then said to himself. "Well, if I'm gonna die today, then I will die fighting!" He said as he came out of his hiding spot and charged at the Galra soldiers, making them run in fear out of Coran's charge on them. But as Coran followed them through another area, he was shocked and ran back after seeing a thousand of Galra soldiers in the large facility!

**Meanwhile with Allura and the Paladins**

Allura neared the cell where Haggar was held as she felt her purple skinned princess was close on dying and just runs forward, leaving the rest behind. _"I'm not losing her again! I _won't_ lose her again!" _

"Allura, wait!" Shiro yelled, trying to get the princess to stay with them, but Allura didn't listen.

"Haggar! HAGGAR!" Allura yelled as tears were forming in her eyes as she was at the cell door. She tried to break it open, but the door was locked tightly.

"Allura!" Pidge yelled as she and the rest caught up with her.

Allura screamed desperately to her friends. "HURRY! SHE'S DYING!"

**Inside the cell**

Haggar could hear her beloved Allura and knew that her hope had been rewarded as she and the Paladins had come for her. "...A...All..ura?" She asked weakly as she didn't have any energy left to speak loud enough and felt she was about to die any moment.

**Outside the cell**

Allura felt it and screamed mentally to her to keep holding on. _"Please, hang on, Haggar! I'm right here! I'm coming!"_

Haggar answered her lover back for 1 last time, as she knew she wouldn't make it. _"A...llura... I...w-will... alw..ays.. lo..ve y-you…"_

"HAGGAR, DON'T LEAVE ME!" Allura screamed her lungs out, not wanting her Haggar to die.

As the Paladins blasted the door open, Haggar breathed out her final breath as she finally died, having no energy left to live before Allura felt that the link between her and Haggar was gone! As the dust settled, Allura and the Paladins saw Haggar, chained to the steel wall, dead from old age.

Tears fell from Allura's eyes as she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "No." She cried as she pushed Lance aside and ran to Haggar, touching her cheeks in desperation. "Haggar! HAGGAR!" She cried as she broke the chains and held her darling princess' lifeless body in her arms, feeling that Haggar had no more life energy left, as she really was gone. Allura cried with great sadness, as she had lost the women of her life a second time. "No... Haggar... Please, please!... Don't leave me... " She begged as she held Haggar's body close, not letting it go as she cried her eyes out.

All the Paladins cried as well, for they had lost a dear friend. And while they weren't as close to Haggar as Allura and Pidge were, they were still sad and hurt greatly. Pidge fell to her knees close to Allura as she embraced her heartbroken friend, for she had lost a best friend like she lost her family. Only this time, it was permanent as Haggar was now gone from this universe. "_No, I can't believe I lost another person I care about again!" _Pidge thought to herself with great sadness.

Hunk said with tears in his eyes. "We've failed."

Shiro put a hand on Allura's shoulder I an attempt to comfort her. "I'm so sorry for you, Allura. I really am."

Allura stopped crying and looked at Haggar 1 more time and promised. "I will always love you... Haggar, my darling princess. No matter how much time will pass... I will always love you and only you." She then leaned over and gave Haggar 1 final kiss on her lips. And at that moment, her necklace, that showed a person's emotion in color, was in its brightest pink, for it showed the color of true love.

Keith then noticed some small white energy coming from Haggar and spoke with astonishment. "Guys... look."

All the Paladins saw it too, even Allura. White energy engulfed Haggar before her body floated in the air. All of them, especially Allura and Pidge couldn't believe what they were witnessing as the Altean princess stared with wide eyes as the white energy shined a pure white light from her purple skinned princess and her body was slowly returning to its younger form before the Quintessence was drained out of her. Allura felt her mental link with Haggar returning, as she was coming back to life!

As the light died out and Haggar's body came back to Allura's arms, the former high priestess slowly opened her eyes. "Allura...my sweet... princess?"

"HAGGAR! YOUR ALIVE!" Allura yelled out as she hugged her lover tight with tears of joy coming from her eyes, which the shocked Altean sorceress slowly returned.

All the Paladins cheered, as their friend had came back to life and as Haggar slowly stood up, Pidge hugged her now alive and young again friend. "Haggar, I can't believe you're alive!"

In fact, all the Paladins hugged her, joyful that Haggar was alive, before letting go to let Allura and Haggar have their moment. "But I... I thought... I thought you had died." Allura said with a confused look on her face.

Haggar couldn't believe how this was possible either and said. "I... I don't know what happened. All I remember is that I was floating into darkness, but then... I heard your voice and... I wanted to come back... and I did."

Then Pidge remembered something. "Wait, guys. Do you remember from those children's stories that said love.. is the most powerful magic that exists?"

"Come on, Pidge! What has children stories got to do with this?!" Hunk says as he doesn't know what that has to do with anything.

"Hunk!" The other Paladins said with annoyance.

After a few seconds, Hunk realized what they meant."Oh, now I get it!"

Haggar faced Allura as she took the pendent of her Allura's necklace in her hands gently. "Love... is the most powerful magic."

Allura smiled brightly, as she knew what this meant. "Our love... brought you back."

Haggar smiled the same way at her princess with her shining eyes before they kissed the best love kiss they had ever gave to each other. All the Paladins smiled at this, for they now knew that Allura and Haggar's love was true love and nothing could ever break that love again.

However their moment was interrupted as Coran hurried inside and screamed. "We have to get the hell out of here! All Galra troops are alerted and...! Oh, I see you found Haggar already, good job, Paladins."

Everybody laughed for a moment, but soon realized that they needed to get the hell out of the base. Allura helped Haggar to stand up and ran out of the cell with Coran and the Paladins.

As they ran, the Paladins called their Lions from the transport ship. The Lions broke out and the transport ship exploded, along with a large part of the giant hanger. They fired at all the Galra soldiers who stood in their way, who were completely caught by surprise. As all the Galra were getting defeated, making some flee in terror, all the Paladins entered their Lions, with Allura and Haggar entering the Black Lion and Coran getting in the Blue one.

Shiro then called to the other Paladins. "Alright guys, time for phase 3! Form Voltran!"

After forming Voltran, they headed for the source of the base where the crystal was and used the giant blaster to destroy it. After several shots, the Crystal was getting unstable, ready to explode! Pidge noticed it on the sensors and informed the others. "Guys, the Crystal is about to explode!"

"Alright, let's get out of here!" Shiro called out before Voltran left for space. Within a few seconds, the crystal exploded, followed by several nuclear-like explosions across the planet. Within a few minutes, The Epatovo base was completely destroyed in a huge blast! The team then used Voltran's sword to destroy the shipyard, making All the Galra afraid as they didn't know what hit them and had barely any time to react. After the shipyard and the entire fleet was destroyed, Allura created a wormhole and the team escaped.

Lance started cheering after their victory, along with the other Paladins. "Whoohooo! We did it guys!" He yelled in victory.

But Coran was sighing in relief. "Pfew! Thank the eldest we got out of there."

Then Allura said to Coran through comlink. "That was very brave what you did there, Coran."

"Yeah... well... I'm never gonna do that again!" He said as he crossed his arms, making the rest of the team laugh while the reunited Altean lovers kissed deeply, making Shiro smile, which Haggar noticed after they broke the kiss.

**A few hours later on Zarkon's ship**

Zarkon had already been informed of the destruction of Epatovo base and was furious after hearing this news, but still didn't have any information on why Haggar's body wasn't among the dead. The Galra Emperor had summoned the surviving officers of Epatovo to his presence, and among them was the same officer that guarded the entrance to the experimental labs. Even though most of them were wounded, they still had to appear before the emperor. They entered the throne room and bowed nervously, feeling afraid of the consequences for their failures.

Zarkon stood up from his throne, looking to them fiercely. "You all have allowed the Paladins of Voltran to enter the base. And now because of it, our invasion fleet has been destroyed, all because you disgraces were too lazy to do what you were assigned to do!" All the officers were shaking out of fear as Zarkon asked. "Now, who knows what happened to my former high priestess? Why wasn't her body found in the rubble? ANSWER ME!"

The officers didn't know, but then the officer that was responsible to guard the experimental labs, including Haggar's cell, stood up. "M-my lord?" He asked, getting Zarkon to face him before the officer answered what he had witnessed. "The... the Paladins... had taken Haggar with them. She..."

"She's what!?"

"She's... alive, my lord. And she has... regained her youth somehow, and if I'm right, her powers...as well."

Now Zarkon was beyond furious. He drew his sword and killed all the surviving officers without mercy, making them scream in terror. "AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

After killing all the officers, Zarkon called the doctor that was working on the project and within a few minutes, he appeared before his master. "My former high priestess is still alive! I want to know how this is even possible, doctor!"

Feeling very nervous, the scientist answered that because Haggar's strength matches Voltron, she was able to bring herself back from death but didn't know how it was possible. Zarkon almost wanted to kill the scientist, but held himself back as he needed him for the 'top secret project' that will replace Haggar. Instead, the emperor thought about Haggar's bond with Allura and then knew the answer: Haggar was brought back because of her love for the Altean princess.

Zarkon was disgusted by that kind of thought. "Tssk! Love, a worthless and pathetic bond." He then faced the scientist and asked. "Your project... will _she_ even feel any kind of attachment?"

The scientist answered. "No, my lord. _She_ will not feel any emotion, just like you've asked."

"Good. How long before _she_ is ready?"

"Well, the project is only about 2% ready so-"

"HOW LONG!?" Zarkon demanded.

"Ehh… a few hours at the latest."

"Then do it!" He ordered, wanting the replacement for Haggar as soon as possible.

The scientist nodded scared and left the throne room, but felt like he had to puke of seeing all the dead bodies on the floor. After the scientist left, Zarkon sent a message through his comlink. "Send someone to... clean up this mess."

**Later on back at the ship/castle**

Allura, Haggar and the Paladins all returned to the castle/ship. The Paladins were all so happy that they had saved their friend and delivered a fierce blow to Zarkon and the Galra Empire. Lance and Hunk thought that they should celebrate this victory with a big party, even Coran was in a great mood to celebrate this victory.

But then Pidge stopped by speaking for Allura and Haggar. "Now hold on a minute, guys! Haggar was tortured for weeks by Zarkon and on top of that, she just came all the way back from the dead. I think we should let her rest. Heaven knows she needs it after everything Zarkon put her through."

"I have to agree with Pidge, guys." Shiro added. "She has been through a lot." He then looked to Haggar and Allura, who were smiling and holding hands. "But that's your call, Haggar."

Haggar was a bit surprised that Shiro allowed her to decide and looked at Allura and then back to Shiro. "Even though I would love to celebrate this little victory with you... I... I want to rest a bit more with Allura, before we have a big party."

Lance shrugged, showing he doesn't mind. "Fine by me. Then what about we have a party in a few days when everyone is well rested?"

Everyone agreed on that by nodding before going to their rooms. But before the Altean lovers could leave for their room, Pidge ran up to Haggar and hugged her, making the Altean sorceress smile as she hugged her back. "I'm so glad that you're back, Haggar. I didn't want to lose you like I lost my family."

After they broke the hug, Haggar softly rubbed Pidge's hair. "Don't worry, Pidge, I promise you won't lose anyone else ever again, especially me or Allura."

"Katie. My real name is... Katie Holt." Pidge revealed, wanting Haggar to know her real name due to briefly losing her and feeling that she deserved to know.

Haggar smiled gently before she kissed her forehead like a sister would before stroking her hair again. "Thank you... Katie. Go get some rest and the 3 of us will talk in the morning."

Pidge nodded and went to her room before Allura and Haggar went to their bedroom. When Allura locked the door, Haggar immediately embraced her lover, which Allura returned as Haggar started sobbing. "I'm sorry, Allura. I'm so sorry."

Allura broke the hug and looked into her darling princess' eyes. "Haggar..."

"No. I should have listened to you! You knew that it was something Zarkon knew I would do, but I wouldn't listen and it got me captured and briefly killed!" Haggar looked away out of shame, with tears still coming from her eyes. "I was just... I just wanted to know what really happened to my parents."

Allura held her lover's cheeks and they looked into each other's eyes. "I know, my darling princess. If I were you, I would have done the same. And I'm not angry at you, nor the other Paladins for not following our advice. The only thing that was on our mind... on my mind, was that I was afraid of losing you... forever. But in the end... when you died... you came back to me. And I'm so grateful to have you back, my love!"

Now Allura's eyes were filled with tears as they kissed each other with passion for a few minutes. Then Allura asked after breaking the kiss. "Haggar?"

"Yes, my sweet princess?"

Allura bite her lip, being nervous to ask. "Would you like... me to… wash you?"

Haggar stared at Allura with wide eyes to what she asked, not sure at first. But after seeing her beloved's eyes, she smiled and nodded. "Of course, my sweet princess." She answered before Allura's pet mice saw Haggar and quickly ran up her shoulders and nuzzled her while squeaking happily. "After the mice tire out while playing with us." She said with a smile as she rubbed their fur, making Allura giggle as they sat down on the bed and played with the mice.

**Later in their bathroom**

Both Altean women were getting undressed slowly, so that now both only wear their bras and panties. Allura even put her hair down all the way, the way Haggar loved it. She looked at her darling princess and thought she was very pretty, but saw that Haggar was very shy of showing her body to her and walked over to her. "What's wrong, my darling princess?"

Haggar looked at Allura and was fond of her body as well. She had imagined seeing Allura's body like this for many years when they were younger, but never got the chance of this when Zarkon took her and killed her parents. But now that she was finally going to see her body, she became very nervous. "I... I'm a bit nervous...of... showing myself to you, Allura."

Allura held her darling princess close to her and smiled. "I'm nervous, too, Haggar, but... I have desired this moment for a while now."

"Me to." Haggar admitted.

They looked into each other's eyes and through their mental link, they could see each other's thoughts and became more certain of this. They were slowly starting to lose both of their bras, revealing each other's breasts. Both blushed at seeing their lover half naked for the first time and thought that their lover was truly beautiful before they took off their panties. When they both were fully naked, they held each other's hands and went into the big bath that was already filled with warm water, making them even more relaxed before Allura started to wash Haggar at the back first and then her arms and her legs. And all the while, they were quiet, enjoying the comfortable sensation of the warm water and their bodies being so close to each other.

Haggar was the 1st to brake the silence when Allura was starting to wash her chest and breasts. "You know... I noticed that after you rescued me on Epatovo, and we kissed?" She asked, making Allura nod before she continued. "I noticed that the Paladins weren't surprised of us doing that."

Allura stopped washing her darling princess before she sighed and confessed. "I... had told the others about our relationship, when we were still looking for you."

Haggar blinked her eyes a few times, before she turned herself around to face Allura and wandered. "How did they react?"

Allura then explained how the others reacted of them being in a relationship. She told her how she was obsessing over finding her, not sleeping an inch until Pidge tried to reason with her. And when the green Paladin tried to reason with her, she'd hurt her out of anger but after seeing their only friend who had supported them ever since they'd been reunited, she realized that she was going to go insane if she didn't stop the obsession from taking a toll on her. Allura also told her lover that when she apologized to Pidge, she realized that their bond was deeper than friendship and revealed their relationship to her and Pidge convinced her to tell the others after she got some rest and told the others the next day.

Allura then explained how the others reacted of them being in a relationship: how Coran was totally against it because it was against Altean tradition. This angered Haggar, but Allura calmed her down just in time, telling her that the Paladins defended their relationship and that they had no problem with it. Allura even told her Haggar that on Earth, the people are far more acceptable to people being with the same sexes and that some people there were even in the same relationship themselves and that's how they were so easy to accept it.

This put a smile on Haggar's face, as she was really happy to have the human Paladins as her friends and even were willing to defend their relationship. "So, Coran had no choice but to accept our relationship, huh?"

Allura shrugged. "He's trying though, but still has some difficulty accepting it."

"Maybe he has some second thoughts about it now...because our love... brought me back to life."

Allura nodded as she said. "I hope so."

Then Haggar took the sponge from Allura and said with a smile. "Okay, now it's my turn to wash you."

Allura smiled and turned herself around so Haggar could start with washing her back. Haggar washed Allura the same way as she did to her but as she went down to wash her legs, she stopped and said. "I can wash you better if you stood up."

"Okay." Allura said a little shyly before they stood up in the bath so Haggar could now wash her legs.

Then out of her own movement, Haggar stood really close to Allura. While she washed her right leg with the sponge in her right hand, Haggar stroked Allura's side with her left hand she kept rubbing her side, barely moving the sponge... until she dropped it and moved her right hand to Allura's breast, touching and rubbing it while making Allura moan. "Hmmmm, oh Haggar."

After seeing that her sweet princess wasn't trying to stop her, Haggar began rubbing both of Allura's breasts kissing her neck. "Ahhh, hmmm. Yes... Hmmm yes. Then Haggar moved one of her hands between Allura's legs and started rubbing her pussy. Allura moaned even more loudly. "Yes... Oh fuck, yes!"

Haggar rubbed her index and middle fingers up and down Allura's pussy faster before both the Altean lovers began kissing each other passionately. Their tongues danced in each other's mouths like a tango before Allura turned around, wrapped her arms around her neck and they tongue kissed even more. Allura slowly pushed Haggar to lie in the bath. Now that Allura was on top of her lover, they rubbed their backs, breasts and pussies without breaking their lustful kiss, with lovers moaned of all the pleasure.

"Oh! Ahh, Allura! Yes! Yes!"

They were rubbing each others pussies faster and both felt their climax coming. "Ha..Haggar! I'm-I'm gonna cum!"

"Me to! Ah, Ah, Ah! Fuck Yes!"

"Haggar! HAGGAR! Ahh AAAAAAHH!"

"AAAAAAAHH!" Both lovers climaxed in the bath with such passion before they breathed hard after all that they had done together and embraced in a long tender kiss.

The Altean lovers looked into each other's eyes and through their mental link, both could sense their lover's desire, wanting more of each other. Allura bit her lip before both of them stood up and got out of the bath, cleaning themselves with their towels. But then, Haggar just looked at Allura as she finished cleaning herself. The former priestess of Zarkon couldn't hold herself back anymore. She walked up to Allura and held her close, kissing her without warning. Allura was surprised at first, but returned her lover's kiss. Then Haggar pushed Allura to the wall without breaking their kiss before Haggar started kissing her princess' neck. The hit to the wall hurt Allura a bit, which Haggar noticed.

"I'm sorry, Allura... but I... I just... Oh by the Gods I want you more!" Haggar said, apologizing for hurting Allura a bit but soon continued kissing and rubbing her lover to let her feel more pleasure.

Allura didn't mind at all, for all she wanted right now was her purple skinned princess. "No, it's... alright. Take me, Haggar! I want you more!" Allura admitted while moaning before they kissed each other with passionate fire. Haggar then picked Allura up bridal style, without breaking their kissing and took her out of the bathroom and right into their bed and put her princess down slowly, still kissing her with passion.

They rubbed and touched each breasts and pussies, both wanting and desiring more. Haggar lowered herself and started licking Allura's pussy, making Allura moan loudly. "Oh yes! Yes, right there, Haggar! Hmmm, fuck yes!" Allura was so turned on that her hips started moving on their own. Haggar kept licking her juices and found her clitoris, which made Allura moan even more. While still licking her clitoris, Haggar slowly moved her finger into Allura's vagina. But before she put it all the way in, she looked at Allura to see if it was okay. Through their mental connection, Allura let her know it was okay, for she was hers and hers alone, making Haggar smiled before she went back to her lover's pleasure spot. She moved her finger in slowly, making Allura grit her teeth for the coming pain and as Haggar went all the way in, she broke Allura's virginity. "Are you... alright, Allura?"

As the pain went slowly away, Allura answered. "I am. Just do it slowly, I'll be okay, my darling princess." Haggar nodded before she resumed fingering her lover's pussy and licked her clitoris slowly. When the pain was gone, Haggar went even faster, making her princess moan loudly at the new pleasure she was feeling. "Oh by the...Gods! Fuck me, Haggar! Yes! Fuck me, my darling princess!"

**Meanwhile**

Hunk was out of his bed, walking towards the kitchen to take a little snack. He got to the kitchen and opened the fridge, he yawned as he took, what looked almost like peanuts, but in Altea were little juicy berries. Hunk ate 1 and intently liked them before he took some to his room. But because he wanted to enjoy the barries, he took the long way to his room by passing by the hallway close to Allura and Haggar's bedroom. When he got to the Altean lover's door, he was awoken from his dreaminess as he heard noises coming from the Altean women's room.

_"Oh yes yes yes! fuck me, Haggar! Yes!"_

Hunk was not even sure what he heard and put his head to the dear to hear clearly and what he heard... shocked him and made him blush really hard. _"Are they... doing what I think they're doing?!" _

_"I... I... IM CUMMING!" _

Hunk, not even sure how to react to this left to his room faster than before. _"I... can't believe it, they're doing_ it! _THEY'RE DOING _IT!"

**Back in the Altean lover's room**

Allura's climax was so great that she squirted in Haggar's mouth, which she gladly drank every single drop of. Allura breathed heavily from all that pleasure before Haggar moved next to Allura and began kissing her for a few minutes before they both smiled to each other.

"That was... amazing. I never knew you were so... skilled." Allura said as she rubbed her lover's red marks with her index fingers softly, not believing her darling princess could be so skilled at pleasuring anyone, despite this being their 1st time.

Haggar giggled at that. "Guess I'm a natural at it, huh?"

Both lovers laughed a bit before Allura got on top of Haggar, which surprised her at first. "Allura?"

The Altean princess bit her lip and kissed her lover with such passion. "Now it's my turn to pleasure you, my darling princess." Allura went down and sucked/kissed Haggar's breasts and nipples, making her moan in pleasure.

"Oh yes! Aaaahh! Yes." Haggar moaned as she rubbed her fingers in her princess' hair.

Allura went down to Haggar's pussy and licked it, tasting her juices for the very first time and loved it so badly she felt like she could get addicted to it...and her lover, who was moaning uncontrollably. "Aaaah. yes, Allura. Yes right there! Fuck yeah!"

When Haggar was wet enough, Allura wanted to break her virginity like she did hers, but she looked at Haggar to see if it was alright with her. Haggar nodded as she said. "I'm ready, my love. I'm all yours."

Allura was moving her finger in slowly, making Haggar grit her teeth because of the pain as her princess moved all the way in, breaking Haggar's virginity. "AAAAAHH!" Haggar yelled out, for it was more painful as tears come from her eyes.

Allura was worried and looked at her Haggar with concern. "Are you alright, my love?"

Haggar slowly nodded. "It just hurt a bit, that's all."

"You're sure?"

Haggar nodded in assurance. "Just do it very slowly, untill the pain is gone, my sweet princess."

Allura smiled and gave Haggar a kiss on the cheek. "I will."

The altean princess moved her finger in and out very slowly as her lover requested, until Haggar was not feeling the pain anymore. Allura was trying her best to give her darling princess the same pleasure she gave to her and licked her clitoris while moving her finger in and out.

"Yes! Yes, Allura! Fuck me! Fuck Me! YES!" Haggar moaned in pleasure. Her hips starting to move on their own, wanting more. Haggar was reaching her climax fast due to never being pleasured this way. "Allura, I... I'm gonna cum!"

"Hmm hmm." Allura was trying to say that she wanted her to cum as she sucked on her pussy faster and faster, until finally Haggar cummed. "AAAAAAAHHHHH!" She yelled out in pleasure as Allura tried her best to drink all her juices before they later next to each other to catch their breath.

But even though Haggar was tired, her mind was still filled with nothing but lust. She then pulled Allura close to her and started to rub her pussy until she was wet again. For she had a special position in mind that she'd read about in 1 of her school classes. Allura didn't know what Haggar was planning but allowed her to do it, as she desired more as well.

Haggar got on top of her lover and positioned herself to rub her own pussy against Allura's. And when she did, Allura's eyes went wide because of how much that position turned her on as she moaned very loudly. "BY THE GODS HAGGAR! YESS! I LOVE THIS ONE! YES! FUCK ME FUCK ME FUCK ME!"

"AAAH ALLURA! YES YES!" Haggar moaned, feeling the exact same pleasure her princess was feeling. After 15 minutes of nonstop scissoring, they started to reach their final climax.

"Allura! I'm gonna cum!"Haggar moaned, feeling her peak coming.

"Let's cum together, my love! FUCK ME FUCK ME!" Allura moaned, wanting to cum with her darling princess.

The pleasure filled lovers went faster and faster until they finally climaxed together. "ALLURA! ALLURA!" AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"HAGGAR! AAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Allura and Haggar breathed heavily in each others arms, with both of them sweating from all the pleasure they experienced. The room was almost like a sauna as the windows were all fogged up and the walls were dripping water. Haggar was the 1st to notice their surroundings, but luckily Allura had a self cleaning device in her room, which all the rooms had. Within a minute, the room was clean again before both women embraced each in their arms.

They kissed for a little bit before Haggar said. "I love you, Allura. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Haggar. More than anything in the universe." Allura said, feeling that her bond with Haggar had increased due to their 1st time having sex.

Just as When they were about to give each other 1 final kiss before going to sleep, their moment was disturbed by the mice, who were angry at the lovers for disturbing their night rest with all the commotion and noise. "I'm sorry, little friends. Were we too loud?" Allura asked.

This angered the mice in as they squeaked angrily, as if saying. "What kind of a stupid question is that?! OF COURSE IT WAS LOUD!"

Haggar calmed them down by pulling a powerful sleeping spell on them and put the sleeping mice back into their little beds with her powers, but it was a little hard due to her being completely exhausted but she successfully did it without hurting her little friends. Haggar then snuggled up close to her lover and they shared a few more kisses before falling asleep.

Hunk, however was having trouble sleeping due to what he'd heard the 2 Altean lovers doing in their room.

**Meanwhile at Zarkon's ship**

Zarkon was meditating at his throne when one of his druids came to him. He bowed on one knee and said. "Your highness, She's ready."

Zarkon opened his eyes and evilly smirked. "Good. Show 'her' to me."

The druid led Zarkon to a large lab, where Galra scientists, including the 1 who was in charge of the project, were pressing a lot of buttons on many machines and a large tank, with an exact identical Haggar but this clone was different: for 'she' had the same purple skin and red marks on her cheeks as the original, but had black raven hair instead of white.

"Experiment #15613 is ready, my lord." The scientist said to Zarkon.

"Release her." Zarkon ordered.

The scientist nodded and pressed a button, which emptied the liquid from the tank and opened it. The cloned version of Haggar floated in the air and when she came to the floor, she bowed on 1 knee to Zarkon.

Zarkon smiled evilly and asked the clone. "Do you know who you are?"

"I... am... you're... high priestess." The clone said with the same voice as the original Haggar.

"And who do you serve?"

"Only you... Lord... Zarkon." She answered before she stood up, facing her master.

Zarkon was more than pleased with the results. "Welcome, to the Galra empire, Haggar."

Then the new Haggar opened her eyes, revealing nothing but red eyes with black pupils as she smiled evilly and said. "I prefer... Dark Haggar!" Then with one arm in the air, she used her power to suck the life of all the scientists in the lab, including the 1 who drained the original Haggar of the Quintessence and added it to her own.

The scientists screamed in pain as they dissolved to dust and with their life-energy added, Dark Haggar was now at full strength. And with her dark magic, she made a new cloak that was the exact same as the original Haggar's but was pure black all over, showing all that she was pure evil. Dark Haggar laughed evilly as was finally free and had a body of her own, no longer needing her weak counterpart.

Zarkon was very impressed with her powers and said to his new high priestess with an evil grin. "Good. Very good. Now the Paladins...and your weak counterpart won't stand a chance against you... Dark Haggar."

**There you go, my friends, the chapter is finally complete. Next chapter will have the aftermath of the lover's passionate night together and they will meet their new enemy that will be more personal for Haggar. Rate and review. See you soon, my friends.**


	9. The Evil Counterpart

**The Evil Counterpart**

When morning arrived, nearly all the Paladins were in the dining room eating breakfast. Hunk is the last to join, as he was very tired because he had trouble sleeping due to the fact that he'd heard the two Altean lovers making love in their room. The other Paladins were surprised that Hunk was the last to join, for normally he was the first to eat breakfast. As Hunk just took what looked like a bowl of cereal, the others wondered what troubled him, so Shiro asked. "You look very tired, Hunk. Did you get any sleep at all last night?"

Hunk didn't say anything, so Keith asked with concern. "Yeah, you never come late for breakfast. You're not sick, are you?" But still Hunk didn't say anything.

Coran wandered if Hunk was sick, so he got his medical supplies and checked him, while Hunk tried to ignore him. "Have you caught a cold? Where you bitten by a Lugarian slugworm? Or do you have the Menici pocks?" The Keeper of Altea asked while he examined Hunk. But the yellow Paladin just shook his head.

Pidge asked with confusion. "What are Menici pocks, Coran?"

"Oh, those are like red dots all over your belly and back that can cause a person to feel more tired and sleepy." Coran explained.

"You mean like chicken pocks?" Lance asked.

"What are chicken pocks?" Coran asked.

Pidge then explained. "Those are the same like Menici pocks, but back on earth, they cause huge itching over your body."

While the others kept asking questions either to Hunk or Coran, Hunk couldn't handle it anymore and yelled. "I HEARD ALLURA AND HAGGAR HAVING SEX ALRIGHT!".

Everyone was surprised of Hunk's reaction that a short silence filled. Hearing this revelation made Coran drop his jaws and felt even more shocked than how Hunk reacted last night. "Wait... you mean they... Allura and... they did... it, it...?!" Coran was so shocked at this revelation that he fainted and fell on the floor.

Everyone looked at Coran and then all looked to each other, and then to Hunk. "Wait... are you sure that they had sex?" Lance asked his friend.

He nodded a lot and explained how he heard it. "I was taking a snack from the kitchen last night 'cause I was hungry, so after I took something from the fridge that looked like peanuts I decided take the long way back to my room, so I passed by Allura and Haggar's bedroom and there I heard Allura yelling/moaning. 'Oh yes yes yes! Fuck me Haggar!' and 'I'm cumming!'

But without him knowing, Allura and Haggar stood right behind him. For they had just entered the room and heard everything that Hunk said. Both blushed really deeply "Where we really that loud?" Haggar asked Hunk, making him shocked that he didn't expect Haggar or Allura to be right behind him. He nervously turned, but eventually nodded. "Yeah, you both... kinda were."

Seeing Hunk's reaction made the two Altean women giggle. "Sorry that you had to hear that, Hunk" Allura said while still giggling.

Then Haggar said to her lover "Maybe we should make the walls in our room soundproof so they don't hear us next time we have fun."

Allura nodded, but then both lovers saw Coran passed out on the floor. "What happened to Coran?" She asked the Paladins.

"He fainted after hearing you both were having sex" Lance explained.

Coran woke up at that moment asking while rubbing his head. "Ugh... what happened?"

"You fainted after hearing that Allura and Hagger had sex last night." Pidge said, which made Coran shocked again.

Haggar then asked him with a fierce look on her face as she grabbed him by the shirt. "What's the matter, Coran? Does it bother you that much?"

Coran was getting really nervous and tried to explain nervously. "Bother me?! Oh, ehh... well..." He then sighed as he stood up. "I guess you already heard how I reacted when I heard from Allura that you 2 are a couple?"

Haggar nodded, still looking angry at Coran. "Yes. Including the part where you said that it is Allura's 'duty' to marry a prince and carry on the family line."

Allura was worried that Haggar would do something to Coran, but her servant/friend then said he was sorry. "Look, Haggar... I'm sorry, for what I said to Allura... and about you. I know now how how you both care for each other and...even though it is against Altean culture, and my better judgement, I'm willing to try to accept that you are together."

This made Haggar smile as she let go of the Keeper of Altea. "Thanks, Coran. But...if you are anyone else tries anything to break me and my sweet princess apart, I won't hesitate to defend our love, even if I have to take drastic measures. And, of course, there's still the option for us to run away together, as Allura said.

Coran sweat nervously as he said to Haggar and Allura. "Yeah, well... just give me some time to get used to it first, okay?"

Both Haggar and Allura smiled and nodded, glad that Coran apologized for his behavior and that he was willing to try to accept her and Allura being a couple. As both Altean women sat down at the table to eat some breakfast, Pidge whispered to Haggar. "I'll make some modifications to your room to make it soundproof, that way you and Allura can have fun without freaking anyone out again."

Haggar smiled and rubbed her earth friend's hair. "Thanks Katie, we'd appreciate that."

**A few days later on Zarkon's flagship**

An informant of the Galra had just arrived on Zarkon's ship to deliver important information of Voltran's current whereabouts. When he got there, he was brought into a room by two Galra soldiers and saw a dark cloaked and hooded figure. "Why am I being brought here? Why can't I see the emperor as I was always allowed?"

"SILENCE!" The voice of the dark hooded figure yelled. The informant had heard that voice before as the hooded figure turned, revealing Dark Haggar. The informant had met Haggar before, but this one looked far different. She wore a pure black cloak and had raven hair and black and red eyes that made him very nervous.

With her serious face, Dark Haggar faced the informant. "You had important information to share?"

While the informant was still nervous, he nodded. "Yes... high priestess, Haggar. I-"

"MY NAME... IS DARK HAGGAR!" The dark counterpart yelled out in rage.

The informant immediately apologized while sweating. "Y-yes, of course, Dark Haggar. As..I was about to say, I know the location of Voltran."

But when he was about to give the information on a disc, Dark Haggar put her hand on his head, looking into his memories with her magic, which made him hurt a lot. After a minute of looking into his memories, she let go of the informant before he dropped to his knees and panted as he looked at the evil counterpart, who smirked evilly. "Thank you for sharing this information with me."

Now the informant was really scared, horrified at who this was. "Who... what are you?"

"The very thing that the original Haggar never embraced. But that's none of your business. I see you look for a reward, right?" Haggar asked, having something still in mind for the informant.

The informant stood up and nodded. "Yes, I am. I presume you know my usual price?"

"Follow me." Haggar told the informant, who did just that.

Not long after, the evil dark half of the original Haggar pointed him to go through an entrance that she opened. "Your reward is right in there."

The informant smirked as he thought he would be paid, but was curious as to why he wouldn't be paid right now. "Why am I being paid in there?"

"It's a new security protocol, 'informant'. Something that this place needed."

He understood and went through the door, but was surprised that it was an exit to an airlock. He turned at the moment when Dark Haggar used her dark powers to close the door and heard a computer voice. "OPENING AIR LOCK IN 15 CLICKS!"

This made the informant horrified and banged on the door. "HEY! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!"

Then he heard Dark Haggar's voice in his head. 'Do you think you can fool the Galra Empire!? I saw in your mind that you're not only sell information to Zarkon, but also to some resistance movements! I think... we would be better off without your services'.

The informants eyes went wide, as he knew what was about to happen as the computer spoke again. "OPENING AIR LOCK IN 5... 4... 3..."

The informant begged for mercy as he banged on the door, not wanting to die. "NO! PLEASE! DON'T DO THIS! I-" But then the airlock opened, sucking the informant into the vacuum of space, killing him within a minute.

Dark Haggar watched from a window with an evil grin as the informant flew away into outer space. She then contacted Zarkon through her comlink. "My Lord, I have the location of Allura's castle."

_"Well done, my new high priestess. Assemble your forces and attack them at once!" _

Dark Haggar was surprised that her master ordered her to assemble her own forces, but then smirked. "So, I am allowed to lead them?"

_"Yes. I want to show the Paladins what you are capable of, Dark Haggar. Destroy the castle and kill them all! But bring the Loins to me, in one piece. I want Voltron."_

"As you wish, master." Dark Haggar said evilly before she started to assemble many ships and specialized armor for herself. _"Soon Haggar, you will regret rejecting me."_

**Meanwhile at the castle/ship**

The Paladins, Coran and the Altean lovers were having a great time celebrating their victory on rescuing Haggar. Lance was showing his DJ moves on the modified music device. The Alteans thought it looked weird how humans made music on Earth, but Lance did make some great songs.

As the Paladins started dancing on Lance's music, Allura and Haggar joined in and actually had fun. It reminded the two Altean lovers of when they were still teenagers on Altea. "Hahahaha! I haven't had this much fun like forever!" Haggar said with an excited voice.

Then Pidge pressed some buttons on her computer and said. "Oh yeah? Check this out!"

Suddenly, the lights were giving a great light show in different colors.

"That's what I'm talking about, Pidge!" Lance called out to Pidge as the light show did the final trick.

Coran was so into it that he overreacted with his dance moves, resulting in some strange looks from the others, but they laughed about it anyway. Later on, Keith and Hunk were having a drinking contest. After 7 drinks, Hunk surprisingly won as Keith was knocked out because of the Altean alcoholic drinks. Hunk cheered victorious like a wild animal. But thankfully to Haggar's magic, Keith recovered but now suffered a hangover already.

Meanwhile, Pidge and Lance were playing a new video game called; Dance battle 5, that they had just purchased. They installed it in the main room of the castle for the party. As the others were enjoying the many snacks that Hunk had made, the video game caught Haggar's attention somehow as she watched how Pidge and Lance pressed their feet on some sort of carpet with arrows on it. She paid close attention and began to get an idea of how to play it.

A few minutes later, Pidge had lost to Lance with a 132 points difference. "Ah man! You beat me again!" Pidge said with disappointment while Lance was doing his victory dance.

"There's only one champion of this game, Pidge, and that's me." He said, gloating over his victory.

Haggar didn't like seeing her female Paladin friend disappointed. She came to them and asked. "Can I play against you next, Lance?"

This surprised Lance and Pidge, but the Green Paladin didn't mind as she let her Altean friend play, having heard Haggar's voice in her head that she'd try to beat Lance to stop his gloating."Sure, go ahead."

Lance put the game on easy mode, since Haggar had never played video games before in her life. "Okay, since it is you're first time, I'll go easy on you, Haggar." He said before Haggar shrugged as Lance picked a song on easy mode.

As they played it, Haggar got the hang of it quickly and when the game ended, Lance and Haggar had the same score as the game said loudly. "TIE! NICE MOVES!"

Lance clapped sarcastically for Haggar. "Alright. Not bad for a beginner." Haggar did not liked how Lance was being sarcastic to her as Lance then smirked and asked. "Wanne take it to the next level?"

Haggar sensed that Lance wanted to push her limits on this, so she then said. "Put it on the hardest level."

This surprised Lance, but then he laughed. "You're sure you want to do that? Nobody can beat up my high score, you know? Pidge has been been trying over a hundred times...without success."

Hagger wanted to prove him wrong and wanted to challenge him to defend Katie and humiliate Lance a little. "What about we do a bet on this?"

This interested Lance. "I'm listening."

"If I beat your 'high score', then you... give Coran a foot massage and never gloat at winning again."

Coran had heard that and liked the sound of that while it disgusted Lance. "And... what if I win?"

"Then you... get a kiss, from me and Allura." Haggar answered.

Allura had heard it and walked to Haggar saying. "Hang on a second, Haggar! I'm not going to-"

But Haggar put her finger on Allura's mouth and smiled to her while giving a wink. And through their mental link, Allura heard that she should trust Haggar. Allura gave a small smile as she nodded and then looked at Lance. "Okay, Lance. If you win, we'll give you a kiss."

Now Lance was eager to win. "Then I suggest you should already prepare yourselves to give this handsome man a good kiss, ladies." He finished as he prepared the game on very hard mode.

Their wager got the attention of everyone else as they gathered to see if Haggar could prove Lance wrong that she could beat his high score. Pidge was nervous and whispered to Allura. "This is crazy, Allura. She'll never be able to beat his high score."

"Don't worry, Katie. You have to trust Haggar on this." Allura said to her friend. Coran was also hoping that Haggar would win this as she claimed she could, as he was eager to get that foot massage.

Lance then started the game. "You are going down, Haggar!"

Haggar then countered confidently. "You...wish, as you humans say on Earth."

Both players had to press the buttons really quickly as they saw how fast the song was going. The first minute of the game, both had the same score as they simultaneously pressed the right buttons. "Come on, Haggar! You can do it!" Pidge yelled, rooting for her Altean friend.

The game began to go faster. As both players were sweating, but were not going to give up. But slowly, Lance was having a more difficult to keep up, while Haggar wasn't slowing down and was so very focused on this. Lance was missing some buttons and started losing points. "NO NO NO NO NO!"

When the song had finally finished, Haggar had won and beat Lance's score with 3400 points more than him. "PLAYER TWO WINS! NEW HIGH SCORE!" the game said loud.

All the Paladins cheered for Haggar before Allura hugged her lover, along with Pidge. "You did it!" They both said with happiness.

Haggar said through their mental link. 'Told you that you should trust me on this'.

Lance fell on his knees, not believing that Haggar had beat his score. Then Pidge said to the blue Paladin teasingly. "Oh, Lance, Coran is waiting for a foot massage."

Not long after that, Lance put on some gloves and a gas mask over his face, since Coran's feet smelled. Coran lied down on the coach as Lance gave him a foot massage. "Be careful around the toes there." The Keeper of Altea told Lance.

All the others tried hard to hold their laughs of how Lance was forced to massage Coran's foot. The servant/friend of Allura then looked to Haggar and gave her a friendly smile, in a way to thank her for this. Haggar nodded, as she felt that Coran deserved something like this, after helping the Paladins and Allura rescuing her.

While Lance still did the foot massage, Pidge took over the DJ place and played a romantic song for her Altean friends as a way of thanking them for defending her. Haggar reached her hand to Allura and asked. "Would you like to take this dance with me, my love?"

Allura gave her lover a smile as she took her hand. "I'd love too, my darling princess."

As they danced on the slow music, both held each other close as the other Paladins just watched them dance letting them have this romantic moment together. "Just like our 1st date, my darling princess." Allura whispered softly with a smile.

"Indeed it is, my sweet princess, except for now, we don't have to hide our love anymore. It feels really good to not keep any more secrets. And when this war is over, we'll be free to live the life we've always dreamed of." Haggar said sweetly.

As the song ended, both Altean lovers softly kissed, making all the Paladins smile at seeing them so happy together. Coran looked on as well, as he felt somehow more acceptable to them being together and mentally said to himself. 'Maybe... they are meant for each other?'

**1 hour later**

Haggar fell on the bed in her and Allura's room, sighing with content as Allura sat down next to her. "That was great. I have to admit, our human friends sure know how to have a party."

"They sure do, my darling princess." Allura said with a smile as they cuddled close to each other, with the pet mice joining them. As they were playing with the mice, Allura then said softly to her lover. "That was a sweet thing you did for Coran back there, and pretty funny how you humiliated Lance like that."

Both lovers laughed at how it annoyed Lance so much of being defeated in his own game and was forced to give the Altean servant a foot massage. Haggar then said. "Well, these 'video games' that the humans call them, are sure entertaining and fun to play. But I think it's better that I'm not gonna play on it too much."

"Why not?" Allura wandered as she rubbed her darling princess' red marks with her index fingers.

Haggar then started to explain. "Well, I looked into Lance and Katie's minds and I saw that the people on earth play these games so much that they are addicted to it, so much that they simply... don't have a life at all."

This sounded horrible to Allura. "That's terrible."

Haggar nodded, showing that she wanted nothing to get in the way of their love and romance, but then said with a smile. "But I sure won't hesitate whenever Katie will ask me to join, or Lance demanding a rematch, so I can humiliate him again." That last part came with a smirk before the Altean lovers laughed, imagining Lance's face at being defeated by Haggar again.

Then Haggar kissed Allura on the cheek and then down to her neck, making her chuckle. "I think I know where this is going, my darling princess."

"Yes, my sweet princess, I want us to have sex again. Our 1st time just felt so great that I can't wait any longer to do it again. But before we make love, tell me: was that the wonderful surprise you had for me when I was coming back to Altea 10'000 years ago?" Haggar asked as she stopped kissing Allura long enough to ask her the question.

Allura smiled before kissing her Haggar with intense fire before breaking the kiss to answer. "Of course, my darling princess. When you told me you were coming back to me that day, I was preparing to give my body to you, to show you that I loved you and only you and that I was yours and yours alone. I even told everyone, even my father to not disturb us because I was planning on that night being the most romantic of both our lives. But when I heard what happened to you, that wonderful night was ruined for me that I didn't want to do anything else but find out what happened to you and possibly find a way to bring you back to me. And if I'd known what Zarkon was doing to you, I would have used every resource in the Altean army to get you back, no matter what it took."

This warmed Haggar's hearts so greatly that she wrapped her arms around her princess' waist and began kissing her with love and lust. The pet mice gave the two lovers some privacy by leaving the room as Allura then put her arms around Haggar's neck and started tongue kissing her, which her lover gladly returned. Both started to moan as their kiss became more passionate and lustful. But before they could do more, Haggar suddenly stopped and looked to her left as she sensed something dark and cold.

"What is it, Haggar?" Allura asked with concern and worry.

"I sense something... something dark... and cold." She said before her eyes went wide. " And it's coming straight here!"

And at that same moment, the alarm went off, warning everyone of an incoming attack! Allura and Haggar jumped from their bed and ran to the bridge, with the Paladins suiting up and coming to the bridge as well. In a few minutes, Everyone made it to the bridge, seeing Coran panicked while pressing some buttons. "Coran, what's going on!?" Allura asked her friend/servant.

"THE GALRA! THEY HAVE FOUND US!" Everyone was shocked to hear that before Allura went to the controls and activated all the weapon and defensive systems while Haggar helped Coran.

Suddenly, a fleet of over 100 Galra ships entered out of lightspeed, together with a massive dreadnought that was 20 times bigger than a Galra ship. "Holy shit! That ship is massive, almost as big as Zarkon's ship!" Lance said as he was nonplussed of the size of this giant ship.

"This must be a new type of Galra ship." Coran said as this kind of Galra ship was not on any data on the Galra fleet.

The Paladins went to their positions as Shiro said. "Well, the bigger they are, the harder they fall!" That made Allura nod as she prepared to fire the weapons.

But something was not right. All the guns of the Galra were pointed to them but they didn't fire, nor any of the fighters were launched. "What's going on? Why aren't they attacking us?" Hunk wandered.

"No idea, but I got a bad feeling about this." Keith said while the other Paladins nodded.

Haggar was sensing that same feeling... coming from the Galra dreadnought. "Watch yourselves everyone. I sense something powerful... coming from that giant ship."

"Whatever it could be, it still won't be a match for Voltran." Lance said confidently, but Haggar was not so sure.

Coran then saw on his screen that the dreadnought was hailing them. "Allura, the Galra are hailing us."

Everyone was really getting suspicious, because for the Galra, it was always 'shoot first, ask questions later'. But still Allura wanted to know who they were up against. "Open the channel, Coran."

Coran nodded and pressed a button, answering the 1 that contacted them on the main screen and to everyone's shock, it was someone who was looking just like Haggar and had the same red marks on her cheeks, but had raven black hair and black-red eyes. Haggar gasped as she looked like the 1 that haunted in her mind when she was tortured by Zarkon. "It... can't be.

"So, we meet at last, Team Voltron." Dark Haggar spoke. "You may see me as the 1 you have on your team, and you may be correct, though we have far different personalities."

"Who are you!? Another of Zarkon's illusions!?" Allura demanded to know who this person was, as she looked identical to Haggar.

Dark Haggar evilly chuckled. "I am the new high priestess of Zarkon, the very darkness that you're 'lover' refused to embrace and far more powerful than any of you can possibly imagine. If you fight, all of you will die here, but if you surrender Voltron now, then maybe I'll spare your lives."

Haggar could sense that this 'new high priestess' was lying and the others didn't buy anything that this 'fake' Haggar was saying to them either. Shiro then said to her. "You'll have to fight us if you ever want Voltran, witch!"

"You damn right! We won't give up Voltran to you!" Pidge added.

"Yeah, bring it on!" Hunk said.

"We won't trust you or the Galra with anything!" Keith said.

"You will be dead yourself before you can even get your hands on the Lions!" Lance said as well.

Dark Haggar smirked at that. "So be it."

The channel closed and all the Galra fighters were launched, attacking the castle. The shields held while Allura returned fire. Shiro then said to the other Paladins. "Everyone, to your Lions!" The other Paladins all nodded, rushed to the hanger, entered their Lions and attacked the fighters.

The battle was intense as the Paladins fought all the Galra fighters with their Lions, while the Galra ships and dreadnought focused all their firepower on the castle. Allura was able to keep the shields up and fired back, but it had only little effect. Coran was trying to increase the power. But Haggar was still shocked after seeing the same shade that tortured her mind while she was imprisoned by Zarkon, now having her own body. All the sounds around her from the battle fell on deaf ears to her as she saw the visions of this evil version through her mind. 'It can't be... it can't be.' Was all that she mentally said to herself. She looked at how the Paladins struggled against the fighters before she was brought back to reality by Coran, who yelled to her.

"Haggar! We need your magic to increase the power!"

Haggar looked at Coran, still shocked. But this was no time to be thinking because she knew she had to help. Her face turned serious and she nodded as she used her powers to increase the power of the castle. Allura fired the castle's lasers at the Galra ships, destroying a dozen of them.

But the lasers had no effect on the dreadnought. "The shields of that ship are too strong!" Allura yelled, seeing that the armor on the new ship was too strong for the weapons, even with her lover's magic.

Haggar sensed that it was the result of dark magic that provided power to their shields. "Allura, it's... that other version off me! She's using her magic to deflect the lasers!"

"Hold on! How do you know if that woman is even a DIFFERENT version of yourself!?" Coran asked.

Haggar said back seriously. "I... I don't know, alright! I just... feel it somehow, but I hope it's not true."

Allura then knew that the lasers of the dreadnought would knock out the castle's shields fast. She called all the Paladins on the comlink. "Paladins! You need to knock out those lasers from that giant Galra ship, or the castle won't hold much longer!"

Shiro nodded and called the others back from fighting the fighters. "Alright Allura, we'll handle their lasers! Everyone, we need to attack the big guy here!"

All the Paladins agreed and went together to attack the dreadnought as Shiro ordered. "Form Voltron!"

After forming Voltron, the Paladins used its sword to destroy the dreadnought's lasers, saving the castle and the 3 Alteans. Allura then contacted the Paladins again. "Thank you, Paladins. You keep attacking the giant one, we'll take care of the other ships!"

**Meanwhile on the dreadnought's bridge**

Dark Haggar saw how Voltron destroyed their frontal lasers before 1 commander said. "Dark Haggar, they knocked out all our frontal lasers!" He informed the new high priestess. But she kept looking at the screen, not losing her sight from Voltron. "D-Dark Haggar?" the commander asked again.

Then Dark Haggar looked evilly to him, making him scared while she ordered. "Prepare my armor, commander. I'll take care of the Paladins... myself." She smirked as the commander nodded and pressed some buttons to prepare her armor. Dark Haggar then teleported herself to 1 of the hangers and was inside a giant robotic armor. ( The was something similar to Zarkon's armor) and activated it by using her dark magic.

**Meanwhile on the castle/ship**

Haggar used her magic to increase the firepower of the castle's lasers and was able to destroy another dozen of Galra ships as the Castle's shields were able to hold off all the fighters attacks. Then Haggar sensed trouble beforeShe pressed a button to get a look at 1 of the dreadnought's hangers and saw a machine in the form of a giant monster leaving to attack Voltron. Her eyes went wide as she sensed that her evil version inside it before she contacted her Paladin friends. "Paladins, something is coming your way!"

Keith saw it and said to the others. "She's right! It's another one of those robotic monsters from Zarkon!"

Everyone saw the monster coming, but Haggar then called out to them. "Be careful, Paladins! That evil witch is controlling it and she's more powerful than you think she is."

The Paladins saw it was firing a dark energy beam at them. They used Voltron's shield but it could barely hold as they were knocked back. "Hunk, we need your giant blaster now!" Shiro called.

Hunk nodded and activated the giant laser to fire back. But as soon as it fired on the robotic armor, it teleported behind them. "What the!?" Lance yelled as Dark Haggar fired another energy beam on Voltron, nearly knocking them out. The Paladins kept trying to fire back or use their shield against its energy beams, but nothing worked.

Coran was shocked to see how powerful this witch was. "By the elders, I've never seen this much power before! It's like Voltron is no match for 'it'!" He said with shock, making Allura and Haggar just look at each other, knowing that the castle was hopelessly outmatched to help their friends.

Shiro then called to the other Paladins. "Quickly! Separate now, before she destroys us!"

The others nodded and Voltron quickly separated back into the five Lions. "Keep your distance and engage!" Shiro ordered the others.

Keith was getting frustrated as his direct attacks just went into thin air. "Damn it! It's like nothing hurts it!" Before the Red Paladin was knocked back by Dark Haggar's energy beam.

"KEITH!" All the others yelled out of concern for their friend.

Keith was still okay, but the Red Lion was offline. "I'm alright, but my Lion won't respond!"

Lance rushed to his friend's aid then took the Red Lion back to the castle. "Don't worry, I got you, buddy!"

Shiro then said to Pidge and Hunk. "Alright listen, that robotic armor is to powerful to face head on! Destroy the other Galra ships, and keep away from that armor as long as you can!" Making Hunk and Pidge nod before they engaged the other Galra ships.

The Blue Lion had brought the Red Lion inside the castle's hanger. "Are you okay, Keith?" Lance called out.

Keith nodded. "Yeah, don't worry about me. Just go and help the others, I'll join you as soon as I can."

Lance nodded as he left with the Blue Lion to get back into the fight. The Paladins were able to destroy some more Galra ships and fighters but had trouble avoiding Dark Haggar's attacks as she was now behind the Green Lion!

Pidge had difficulty avoiding the dark energy blasts as she called out to the others. "She's right behind me! I can't shake her off! Hunk, Shiro you gotta help me here!" But just then, a heavy punch from Dark haggar's armor knocked the Green Lion into a hord of Galra fighters.

"KATIE!" Both Allura and Haggar yelled out to their friend before they saw Dark Haggar keep punching and firing energy blasts to the Green Lion.

"Katie, NO!" Allura yelled as her friend was being slaughtered.

Haggar could no longer watch this, as she knew that she had to help Pidge and the others. She then called to Coran. "Coran! Prepare my fighter, I'm going there to help them!" Making him Coran nod before he pressed some buttons to prepare 'The Voltron Fighter'.

Just as Haggar wanted to teleport herself to the hangar, Allura tried to stop her. "No, Haggar! I'm going with you!" She said, wanting to go with her darling princess.

But Haggar protested against it. "No, Allura! you need to keep controlling the castle! I'll go."

Allura knew that this was no time to argue and kissed her lover 1 more time. "Be careful, my darling princess, I don't want to lose you again."

Haggar nodded and teleported herself to the Hangar. Keith saw her entering Pidge's experimental fighter and called out to her. "Haggar, what are you doing!? You and Pidge haven't even tested the Voltron fighter yet!"

"Then i'm testing it now, Keith!" Haggar called back as she used her magic to activate the fighter and left the hanger to rescue her earth friend that was beginning to become like a sister to her and Allura.

**With Pidge/Katie**

The Green Lion was offline and still being attacked by Dark Haggar. Hunk and Shiro tried to help, but their attacks were hopeless. Pidge knew she was out of options as she saw how the robotic armor was ready to deliver the final blow. She knew that this was it... that this was the end for her. A tear came from her right eye as she closed her eyes tightly.

But then, Haggar fired a strong blue energy beam on Dark Haggar, hitting the robotic armor straight on and knocked her back to a Galra ship! This caught Dark Haggar by surprise before became furious as she started to attack the Voltron fighter!

As Shiro and Hunk helped Pidge, they saw Haggar battling the robotic armor of the evil witch. Haggar and Dark Haggar fired multiple energy beams, both equally strong. Dark Haggar was smirking as she had desired this moment for so long.

Haggar was nearly out of options as she couldn't pass the robotic armor's defenses. "Damn it! Why won't it work!?" But then she remembered the emergency booster engines that Pidge had installed and thought of a plan while avoiding the robotic armor's attacks. As she saw that the dreadnought was preparing to attack the castle again. She knew the time was right and made a 90 degree twist with the robotic armor head on! She waited till she was closer before she pressed the emergency booster engines button!

The Voltron fighter pushed the Robotic armor so far away with it, heading right for the dreadnought as Haggar put a protection spell over herself. Time was slowing down as the armor hit the dreadnought before Haggar flew through the glass cockpit window and burst herself right through the armor, taking the dark witch with her into the dreadnought, destroying the Voltron fighter and the robotic armor in the process

Allura looked shocked as she saw what Haggar did. "HAGGAR!" She yelled out with concern for her 1 and only love. For a moment she thought she was dead, but through her mental link with Haggar, she sensed she was still alive and was now inside the dreadnought.

Apparently, Haggar had dragged the evil witch through dozens of walls and was now hurt on the floor inside a giant room at the end fallen debris where Dark Haggar lied under it.

Haggar woke up, finding herself inside the dreadnought and smiled a bit to herself, as she knew that her attack had worked. Using her power, she slowly stood up and removed the debris out of the way with her magic, but saw that the evil witch was gone!

Haggar looked around to where that 'thing' was. Before she heard evil laughing around her, then from another direction and then above, making her take a few steps back. "Where are you!?"

"I'm right here!" Dark Haggar yelled, as she was right in front of her. The evil counterpart pushed Haggar far back to the wall of the room, hurting her as she hit the wall as the dark figure approached her good counterpart.

Haggar used all her magic to battle this evil being, but Dark Haggar deflected all her power like it was nothing. Then Haggar floated in the air, with purple lighting going through her body and charged at the evil being! The fight was intense, with both trying to gain the upper hand. Galra soldiers tried to help their new High Priestess but Haggar was able to kill them all fast! Until after a strong powerburst, both sorceresses were pushed back to an opposite wall!

Both slowly stood up as Haggar wanted to know who this 'fake' Haggar was."Who are you!?"

The evil witch evilly laughed. "Don't you know, Haggar? I am you...!"

Haggar's eyes went wide, but then she didn't want to believe that this other Haggar was her. "You're lying! You can't be me!"

Allura could hear them talking, through her lovers connection and was just as shocked as Haggar. _"Could that fake Haggar really be...the evil that was inside of my darling princess?"_

Again Dark Haggar laughed. "You can't deny it, Haggar. I have always been there in deepest parts of your soul. When you first embraced the power of the darkness 10.000 years ago when you created the Quintessence for Zarkon the first time, you also created me!"

Haggar then thought about the nightmares that she sometimes had when she served under Zarkon, the voices that she heard. _"Could it really be true?" _

Dark Haggar smirked. "So, you do remember? Good"

"But... how?! How is this even possible?!"

"Simple really, when you were still being held in captivity by Zarkon and tortured to return to his side, I knew that I had to convince you to return to his side."

"Why!?" Haggar demanded.

"The power that you've had since you were born, the power that surpasses even beyond Voltron! Of course, because I wasn't at full strength, I could only speak to you sometimes. And when you returned to the light, all in the name of love for your precious Allura, I thought I lost all my chances to control you. But then, you unleashed your true power, when you discovered that it was Zarkon who killed your parents. And in the process, you not only unlocked your true potential but also finally gave me the power I needed to be at full strength."

But then Dark Haggar became furious. "But then, when I offered you all this power, you turned your back on me! Together, we could have been more powerful than ever before! We could have been the 1 to kill Zarkon and his pathetic empire and eventually rule the universe and even beyond! WITH ME, YOU WOULD HAVE BECOME A GODDESS!"

Haggar scowled because this evil witch had offered her to rule over all life in the universe. "That's what you desire, not me! Now tell me, WHO ARE YOU!?"

"Like I said before, Haggar. I am the very thing you refused to become, the very thing you rejected. I am... Dark Haggar! Born from the power that you've had since you were born, the darkness that you denied, and now... I have my own body, thanks to your blood."

Haggar looked shocked as Dark Haggar mentioned that she was able to have her own body thanks to her blood, before she started to remember when they took a blood sample from her before she was saved by Allura and the Paladins. _"No." _

Dark Haggar evilly chuckled. "Yes, Haggar. I was cloned from your DNA. When you refused to join me, I took my chance to split a part of my soul in to the blood that was taken from you, and now I am alive and stronger than ever before! Even stronger than you and Voltron! You could have had all of this, Haggar, if you would have not been so selfish and just joined me, but now you have made me very angry! Now... I am going to destroy everything that you love. And as for your precious Allura, I'm going to finish her, nice and slow."

This made Haggar furious, as more and more power went through her body. But this is what Dark Haggar wanted. "Yes... show me your power, Haggar. Show me what you're trust capable of."

Haggar's eyes went pure white and purple lighting went through her body as she yelled at the top of her lungs. "AAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Haggar charged on Dark Haggar, draging her through every wall until they were out of the dreadnought in the vacuum of space!

Dark Haggar then powered up to her full power and both her and the original Haggar fought with all their magic against each other, firing both black-dark and purple-white energy beams and blasts! Without thinking, they even destroyed what was left of the Galra fleet! Then Dark Haggar fired her greatest power against Haggar, with Haggar firing back. But Haggar could not stop it and was pushed far back before Dark Haggar then punched and kicked with all her magic at Haggar, until she could barely move.

Allura looked horrified. "HAGGAR! NO!"

Haggar was nearly motionless as Dark Haggar held her by the collar of her suit. "This universe is too small for 2 Haggar's!" She said as fired lots of dark-red lighting at Haggar, making her scream in pain.

"AAAAAAARGH!"

When Dark Haggar stopped, she said while charging her finishing move. "Farewell, my weak counterpart!"

But then, the evil counterpart was pushed aside by a direct hit from Voltron's sword. The Paladins managed to form Voltron again and came to rescue Haggar. "Now Hunk! Fire at will!" Shiro screamed to Hunk to fire the big laser gun. Hunk did just that and all the blasts directly hit on Dark Haggar until the last 1 blow her back into one of the last Galra ships!

"Alright, now separate and return to the castle! Pidge, you get Haggar!" Shiro ordered, making Pidge nod before she took Haggar with her as the rest of the Lions went back to the castle.

Coran was worried for Haggar as he looked at Allura. "Is Haggar?"

Allura could sense she was alive, but was worried for her as well. "No, she's still alive...but barely."

As all the Paladins were back inside the castle with their Lions, Shiro called to Allura. "Allura, create a wormhole, quickly!" Allura nodded and quickly created a wormhole to escape the Galra.

Dark Haggar had just stood up, seeing the castle with the paladins and Haggar attempting to flee.

The evil witch was now even more furious than ever before and fired a dark energy beam at the portal."YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE ME, HAGGAR! NEVER!"

As the beam hit the portal, the castle had just entered it but instead of blue, it was now red. The whole castle was shaking and was losing control. "Coran, what's happening?" Shiro asked, wanting to know what was happening.

Coran answered. "The integrity of the wormhole has been compromised. It's breaking down."

"What does that mean?!" Lance asked.

"It means we have no control over where we're headed!" Coran answered in a panick.

A strong shake caused the Loins to be sucked out of the hanger into the red-dark walls of the portal they went through and Allura looked shocked, as she could do nothing as the Loins were vanishing. "They've vanished through the temporal rift! The Lions are Gone! Haggar... HAGGAR!" She said with concern for her lover, Katie and the other Paladins.


	10. Across the Universe

**Chapter 10 Across the Universe**

The Green Lion exited the dark portal without any control, smashing through huge junks of debris. Pidge was panicked for not gaining any control and feared that this would be the end for her. Finally, after getting smashed over 5 times, the Green Lion finally came to a stand still, with Pidge groaning as she sat right up again. She checked the systems to find out why her Lion wasn't responding. "What's the matter, girl?" After pressing more buttons and nothing worked, Pidge gave up and sighed. "Okay, rest a bit. I'll see what I can do." But then her eyes went wide as she remembered that a wounded Haggar was also with her. "Oh crap, Haggar!" She said with concern for the 1 who'd just saved her life as she got out her seat and went to check on her Altean friend, who was lying unconscious on the floor and had many wounds all over her body. Pidge started to shake Haggar to wake her up. "Haggar! Haggar, can you hear me?" But Haggar didn't move as she was still exhausted from fighting her counterpart. Pidge saw that she was bleeding from her wounds and rushed to get some medical supplies that were under her seat, but weren't enough. "Aargh! Damn it! This isn't enough!" She said in frustration before she took the few bandages and ran back to Haggar, nearly panicked as she didn't want to lose her friend again. "I don't have enough supplies, Haggar, but this will have to do-" But then, she stopped as she noticed that once she took off Haggar's upper suit, her wounds weren't bleeding anymore. In fact, they started to heal, which amazed the Green Paladin.

After a short minute, all of Haggar's wounds were healed and she slowly opened her eyes. "Ugh... K-katie?"

Pidge/Katie was so happy that her friend was alright and hugged her. "Haggar! Oh, thank God you're alright!"

Haggar smiled as she returned the hug, but broke it and tried to get up "Wh... what happened?"

"We got separated from the rest of the team during a wormhole jump." The Green Paladin answered.

Haggar didn't understand how that could happen but then got worried about Allura. "And Allura?! Where is she?!"

Pidge shook her head as she didn't know what happened to the others, especially Allura. "I don't know, Haggar." She then checked outside to see where they were and was surprised at what she saw. "It looks like we're in some sort of a trash nebula... and there is no gravity here."

Haggar checked from the windows and noticed the many debris and junk as well before the Altean sorceress had an idea what kind of place they were in. "This must be one of the universe's junkyards, but I can't tell which one we are in." But then Haggar didn't fully understand how they could have been separated during a wormhole jump. "But, Katie, how could this have happened? How could we have separated from the others?"

Pidge sat back on her seat and explained. "Well, after we rescued you from that 'evil witch', we collected you and we were going to jump through a wormhole. But then she fired some energy beam at us and the wormhole was somehow... disturbed by it. Before we all knew it, we lost control and... now we are here."

After hearing Pidge/Katie explain how this happened, she now understood before sighing as she said with contempt. "Dark Haggar."

Pidge raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What?"

"That 'evil witch', her name is Dark Haggar."

When Haggar started to explain to her earth friend about her battle with her evil counterpart and how she was created, Pidge was shocked to hear when she finished explaining everything. "Whoa whoa whoa, I need a minute here! You're telling me that that 'new high priestess' of Zarkon is an EVIL clone of you?!"

Haggar nodded. "Yes... and I fear she's more powerful than me." She then became angry at herself. "Damn it! Even when I used my full power on her, it was still not enough!"

Pidge calmed her down as she stroked Haggar's back. "Hey, don't say that. If it wasn't for you, I would have been dead by now. We all would've."

Haggar smiled at that as she rubbed her friend's hair. "Thanks Katie." But then she felt sorry for destroying the Voltron fighter. "And sorry for destroying the Voltron Fighter in the process, but I couldn't think of another way to fight that evil clone of mine."

"Nah, it's okay. I can just build a new one. And after seeing you fighting in that thing, I can make the second one even better, but just don't destroy it every time you fly in it." She finished with a wink.

Haggar smiled and nodded as she continued to rub Katie's hair. "I promise, Katie."

The 2 friends started to think of what to do next before Pidge said. "Okay, all we need to do is to stay calm. As we say on earth: 'When you get lost in space, the best thing to do is stay put and wait for people to find you'."

Haggar sighed, but felt that waiting wasn't an option. "Maybe... I can try to locate Allura with my mental link." She said as she closed her eyes and started to focus but she couldn't sense Allura's presence... not in the whole universe…but beyond it. Haggar opened her eyes and said sadly. "I can't locate her! It's almost like she isn't even in the universe... but is somehow, beyond the rift of time and space."

This made Pidge worried as she hugged Haggar close to her for comfort. "That's not good."

**Meanwhile with Allura, Coran and her pet mice**

The castle was still going at great speed through the corrupt wormhole and it wasn't showing any signs of stopping, worrying Allura and Coran as they tried to get out of the wormhole. "Let's check the Rift Exit Positioning Monitor to see where this wormhole goes!" The Keeper of Altea said as he pressed some buttons on his control panel.

"Coran, look! There appears to be something on the other end! We're heading right for it!" Allura told her servant/friend, seeing something at the end of the wormhole and seeing that they were heading straight for it.

"Scanners show that it's just a void of nothingness." Coran said as he checked the scanner and saw that there was only nothingness ahead. "Find us an exit before we fly straight into the void!"

Allura tried to find a way out of the wormhole but she couldn't get the controls to respond. "I can't, I've lost control of the castle!"

"Brace yourself, we're about to hit it!" Coran told her princess before the castle flew into the void of nothingness.

For a second, everything was in darkness but when Allura opened her eyes, she saw that nothing bad had happened to them. "Coran, we're okay." But then she saw 1 of her pet mice on her shoulder, she was surprised that it was a different animal, along with the other mice. "What happened to the mice? They've transformed." She said before noticing that Coran had changed as well...for he looked...younger. "Coran?"

"What, do I have something in my mustache?"

"No, you look...younger." Allura said with a dumbfounded face before seeing that they were heading to the black void again. She tried changing the coordinates but couldn't get a signal out or receive a single in because the system was locked. The castle went through the void again. When Allura noticed that each time they went into the void and it was making Coran younger than the last time and the mice change into much larger animals, she realized that they were in a time loop that was affecting everyone but herself.

**Meanwhile with Shiro and Keith**

When the Black and Red Lions came out of the wormhole, they crashed on a strange unknown planet. They tried to stop themselves from crashing but the Lions weren't responding and they both crashed in separate parts of the planet. Keith was the 1st to wake up and tried to contact Shiro but was only getting static and saw that his Lion was busted so he got out and began to run to his leader's location while still trying to contact him. "Shiro. Shiro, can you hear me?"

_"Yeah Keith, I'm here." _Shiro answered as soon as his communication device worked again. _"How're you doing?"_

"Not good, my Lion's busted. Are you alright?" Keith asked with concern for his friend.

_"Yeah. Takes more than a corrupt wormhole jump and a crash-land to bring me down. But I'm not wounded or anything." _He said with humor before he saw predators near his Lion. "_But if you don't get here soon, I think I will be."_

**Back with Haggar and Pidge/Katie**

The Green Paladin wanted to check out the junkyard to see if there was anything in it that they could use to contact the others. Haggar wanted to come as well, so she put her upper suit back on and put on a space helmet. While checking the junkyard, Pidge broke the silence, as she had just now remembered something. "You know, when you used your full power fighting 'Dark Haggar' you didn't even need your space suit to survive in the vacuum of space. I mean, that was amazing! So I was thinking...maybe in time you won't need a space suit anymore and you can use your full power to fight with us much easier."

Haggar shrugged as that could be a possibility 1 day. "Maybe. But I don't think it's a good idea to test it out now. We have other things to worry about right now." But just then she sensed multiple lifeforms close to them and looked to where they came from.

"What is it?" Pidge asked with worry.

"We're not alone." Haggar answered as she stood close to Pidge/Katie to protect her.

In the shadow of one of the space debris, some lights came out, looking like they were scary eyes. Pidge yelped as she aimed her weapon at whatever they were. "Who's there!?"

But Haggar lowered her weapon, as she sensed that the lifeforms weren't harmful. "No, wait Katie."

As more scary eyes appeared, one of them came out, revealing to be a fluffy cute little creature. Slowly all the fully creatures in all kinds of colors came out, checking on Pidge and Haggar. It seemed that they didn't want to harm the 2 friends before Pidge really thought they were cute "Hmm? Aw! Hey, little guys! Aw, you guys are cute. Too cute to be found in a dump like this."

Haggar agreed as she stroked the fur of one of them. "Indeed they are very cute."

"What are these?" Pidge asked, wanting to know what creatures they were.

But Haggar didn't know, as she had never learned anything about these creatures in her studies. "I don't know... I've never seen a species like these before. Are you guys the only ones living here?" It seemed that the creatures were communicating with them by standing next to each other in different order of their colored fur, saying 'yes' to Haggar.

Pidge then explained to them why they were here. "We hope our rough landing didn't disturb your day. We'll only be here for a short time. We're waiting for our friends to find us. We were separated during a wormhole jump." Then the creatures communicated, as if saying 'We could be your friends'. Pidge smiled at that. "Yeah, friends!"

Haggar then sighed sadly as she looked out into space with concern for Allura. "I sure hope they find us soon."

A few creatures seemed to recognize who Haggar was missing and formed together in the shape of a heart in front of her and communicated. 'Is there someone special you wait for?'

Haggar understood and nodded. "Yes... the love of my life." She answered before a tear came from her right eye as she looked into space again. "Oh Allura, please be alright."

**Back with Allura, Coran and her pet mice**

The Keeper of Altea was continuing to become younger every time they entered the black void while saying the same thing each time they came out but in a younger voice, frustrating Allura as the mice, now smalls crawled on her. "Coran please, I don't need any of your attitude right now!"

"You don't understand me at all! You have no idea what I'm going through! I'll be in my control area!" Coran said as he turned around with his arms crossed.

Allura pressed some buttons on her controls but still couldn't manually enter any coordinates. Suddenly, the Altean princess got an idea as she switched her controls to locate the Lions, especially Haggar and Katie. "Maybe we can locate them, the castle will automatically lock on to the Lions!" But she couldn't locate any of the Lions. "I can't locate them!" But before she could think of anything else, Coran turned on Opera music. "Coran, turn that off right now!"

"I can only express myself through music!" Coran said before they went into the void again, turning the Keeper of Altea into his child form before he said the exact same thing as the 1st time they entered the void.

"We've tried everything and nothing's worked! A few more trips down this wormhole, and you're going to disappear. I must find a way out!" Allura said with worry as she brought up another control panel.

"Just blast our way out." Kid Coran said as he began to run around and play with the again transformed mice.

"I suppose it's worth a try. The castle's defense systems might have enough firepower to destroy the tunnel." But after Allura shot the main laser at the void, it came back out, making Allura avoid the laser's as she kept shooting. "It's not working! It's like we're shooting at ourselves!" She said before the castle went through the void again.

**Back with Shiro and Keith**

The Red Paladin was running to Shiro's location while using his jet as much as he could to get there faster when he heard Shiro scream in pain. "Shiro, what happened?"

_"Several creatures...wounded me."_

Suddenly, hot streams of water erupted from the ground and Keith tried to run as fast as he could to avoid them but he fell in a canyon. Shiro, who had just gotten wounded by the predators, was surrounded by them until a saw a opening and ran to the far cave, making it inside but the creatures still had him trapped while he was holding his wound.

"Keith, what happened?"

_"Minor delay, but I'm on my way. How are you?"_

"Not good. I'm in a cave, but these creatures have me trapped and wounded me." Shiro answered while holding his wound as 1 of the creatures tried to get in.

_"Don't move, I'm on my way." _Keith told his leader and friend.

**Meanwhile with Lance and Hunk**

When the Blue and Yellow Lions went through the corrupt wormhole, they crashed through an icy ground and into water until they landed at the bottom of the sea. "Hunk! Hunk, are you alright?" Lance asked with concern before he heard his friend throw up. "You just threw up, didn't you?"

"Yeah. You would too if you got sucked out of a wormhole and crashed landed on an ice planet and landed underwater." Hunk counterd.

"That_ is_ what happened to me!" Lance reminded his friend before he checked his Lion's systems. "My main system is down. The crash must have screwed it up. How's yours?"

"I'm running on reserve power. My Lion's basically dead in the water." Hunk punned. "Anyway, we need to contact the others and get back to the group."

Suddenly, the Blue Lion's systems came back on. "Yes. Welcome back, beautiful." Lance said as the Lion's eyes lighted up to let Lance see in the water. When Lance saw what was in front of him, he was shocked, as the creature was...a mermaid! "No way! Hunk, this is gonna sound crazy, but I think I just saw a mermaid."

"Oh boy. Ok, how bad did you hit your head when we hit the planet?" Hunk asked with annoyance.

"No, I'm serious." Lance said before he saw the mermaid again and moved his Lion around.

"Lance, knock it off! We have to stay focused and find a way to get back to the others." Hunk tried to remind his friend before he saw Lance out of his Lion.

"I know we need to get back to the others, but it's a mermaid. A mermaid! Maybe she can help. Come on, let's follow her." Lance said with excitement.

"No way, I'm not going out there."

Ok, you stay here by yourself, all alone in the dark inside a Lion that's out of commission." Lance said, knowing that Hunk wouldn't want to do that before the Yellow Paladin quickly rushed to his friend in fear of being left.

The 2 Paladins looked for the mermaid until they saw her with their arm lights and chased after her for a few minutes until they saw an underwater village, much to their amazement until the mermaid appeared behind them. "Hello. Welcome to my village. Here, all are safe and warm." She said with a happy smile. That was when 2 walrus-like creatures appeared behind the Paladins, making them scream and swim back. "Please, do not startle our guests. I am Florona. The almighty Queen Luxia, keeper of our land, would love to meet with you."

"Wait. How did your queen know we were here?" Lance asked with a raised eyebrow, wanting to know how the queen of the mermaids knew he and his friend were on the planet.

"Queen Luxia knows all." Florona answered.

After getting the Paladins some sea creatures to ride into the village, they followed Florona and the others. "Lance, I know this mermaid thing is a dream of yours, but we really gotta go." Hunk said, knowing that finding the others was more important right now.

"We will, big guy, we will, but let's meet this queen first. Besides, maybe she can help us. And, if I just happen to find the future Mrs. Blue Lion, well, then that is all right with me." Lance said with his boyish charms as he thought of finding a future girlfriend.

When they all got to the village, the mermaid queen Lucia greeted them. "Space travelers, I am Queen Luxia. I welcome you to our village as honored guests."

"The honor's all ours. I'm Lance."

"Uh, Mrs. Queen, Your Honor, Your Excellence, I'm Hunk, and me and my buddy here, we crash-landed on your lovely planet, but we really need to get back in touch with our friends who are in space. Would you possibly have any way of doing that?" Hunk asked, wanting to know if the queen could help them with contacting their friends.

"Hunk, Lance, I can solve all of your problems. Here, we are all safe and warm." The queen said.

"You use magic, don't you? I bet this castle's a ship. This castle is a ship, am I right? Just don't say anything if I'm right." Hunk said with excitement, think that this castle was also a ship like Allura's.

"Here, I've brought you these. The bubble coral will provide you with all the air you need." Lucia said as a guard gave the Paladins a coral that made a bubble for them to breathe underwater without their helmets.

"Whoa-ho-ho! Thank you, Fish Queen. Huh. Cool." Hunk said with a smile as he took off his helmet, with Lance doing the same.

"And rest assured, your space vessels will be well protected." The queen said as Lance and Hunk saw their Lions being brought into the village. "Now, please, follow me."

While they were following the mermaid queen, Lance noticed a purple glowing plaint. "What is that?" He asked curiously.

"That is the giver of life to our people, the Baku Garden. When the waters froze over, we were forced to live down here. The garden provides us the warmth and food we need to survive. Because of it, we are taken care of. Here, all are safe and warm." The queen answered.

**Back with Haggar and Pidge/Katie**

While Haggar tried to figure out a way to find the others, Pidge passed the time by building some rumble to mimic her friends to the little creatures. 1st Keith. "My name is Keith. I'm so emo. Shiro you're our leader. What should we do?" Then she mimicked Shiro's voice. "We'll get through this if we work together. We're a team." Then she imitated Lance's voice. "Look at me! I'm Lance. Hey, is that a cute girl over there?" Then she imitated Haggar. "Hey! Hands off of the love of my life, you pervert!"

While Pidge kept imitating the other Paladins voices and that of Allura and Coran, it made Haggar giggle a bit. Then the little creatures squeaked and their lights flickered. "Huh? What is it?" Haggar asked the little creatures as they all seemed to look at the Green Lion.

When Pidge and Haggar looked as well, they saw that the Green Lion was online again, much to their relief and joy. "Hey, you're working again! Welcome back!" Pidge said enthusiastically. But she was so happy to get back into the Green Lion, that she didn't notice her leg was stuck to a cable, making her fall back on the platform.

"Katie! Are you okay?" Haggar asked with concern for her close Earth friend.

Pidge nodded as she groaned. "Yeah, I'm okay." But then they both noticed that her fall made the platform clear off some debris and noticed that the platform was actually an old satellite.

Haggar could hear one of the little creatures' minds, due to her powers and natural skills with small animals. 'Are those your friends?'.

Haggar shook her head. "No, It's not our friends."

"It looks like this is an old, rusty satellite." Pidge added, but then she gasped as she got an idea. "Hey! Maybe we can use it to find our friends before they find us."

Haggar noticed what Pidge was getting at and hugged her. "Katie, that's brilliant! But how are we going to power it back on?"

Pidge looked around the junkyard and said. "I'm sure that there are some parts in this junkyard that we can use."

For the next several minutes, Pidge and Haggar searched throughout the junkyard for parts that they could use to locate the rest of the team. With help from the little creatures, they constructed a communications array on top of the Green Lion's back, hoping that with the Lion back on, they could find the others, especially Allura.

**Back with Keith and Shiro**

The Red Paladin was still trying to find a way across the gap but losing beginning to lose patience before he remembered Shiro's words. "Patience yields focus."

_"That really stayed with you, didn't it?"_

"You've given me some good advice. If it wasn't for you, my life would have been a lot different." Keith said while he made an eruption of the water with his banyard and got an idea.

_"Yeah. You wouldn't have crashed a flying lion on an alien planet and be stuck with little hope of rescue. So, you're welcome." _Shiro said with a smile while holding his bleeding wound before he began to cough.

"Stay with me, Shiro." Keith told his friend before cutting the ground and making an eruption to get access to cassum. When he was halfway, he used his jet to get to the other side and climbed up the ledge. "Hang on. I'm on my way." Keith ran to Shiro's location before he finally saw the Black Lion. "Shiro, I have a visual on the Black Lion."

_"Good, because these guys just started digging." _Shiro said, noticing that the creature was starting to dig into the cave to get to him. When it finally did, it grabbed him by the leg and threw him a few feet away. The Black Paladin got up and tried to defend himself using his arm but it barely did anything and 1 of the creatures pushed Shiro off the ledge, making him lose his helmet before he tried to run.

When Keith got to where the Black Paladin was, he saw Shiro struggling with the predator creatures and it wasn't looking good. Keith knew that there was only 1 way to help his friend and entered the Black Lion. "I know I'm not Shiro, but he's in trouble. We need to help him."

Shiro defended himself as best as could, but the predators were too fast and strong and they were ready to close in for the kill as Shiro was close to accepting his fate when suddenly...the Black Lion, piloted by Keith fought the predators off until they ran away, saving Shiro's life.

**Back with Allura, Coran and the mice**

"Let's check the Rift Exit Positioning Monitor to see where this worm goes." Coran, now possibly 4 years old said before his stomach growled. "I hungry!" He said before stomping on the control panel.

"Coran, no! That is not a toy. You're going to break the Castle and everything will stop!" Allura told the child before running over and getting him off the control panel. But then she got an idea. "Wait a second. Perhaps we can simply stop the Castle from moving." She said as she went to press the button to shut off all the castle's power, which she did despite Coran biting her and pulling her hair. But despite the castle's power being shut down, it was still moving to the void. "I've shut down all the power. Why are we still moving towards the void?" Allura asked before the castle entered the void again, revealing Allura holding a now-baby Coran. "I know, I know. Who wants to check the Rift Exit Positioning Monitor to see where this wormhole is taking us? You do, that's who. We have to get out of this loop before the only thing left of you is your mustache."

**Back with Hunk and Lance**

The Blue and Yellow Paladins were enjoying the dinner in the village, but unknown to them, the entertainment was a hypnotic squid that put Hunk in a trance. When they were sleeping, 3 disguised mermaids came and took Lance but left Hunk behind when they saw someone coming. When Lance woke up, he saw the 3 disguised mermaids and they sprayed something on him to get him out of the trance. The blue Paladin tried to swing away but was held back by sea creatures that made him afraid before the disguised cave dwellers, known as Swirn, Blumfump and Plaxum convinced him that the queen was mind controlling their people.

"Wait. Wait a minute. Okay. You're trying to tell me the queen is brainwashing people? But she's so safe and warm." Lance said, not believing that the queen could be brainwashing her own people.

"What do you remember from yesterday?" Swirm asked.

"I remember we crashed, saw the mermaids and the village, then we had dinner, and then, uh we, uh." Lance said as he tried to remember yesterday but couldn't.

"You can't remember because you were under her control." Swirm concluded.

"Our theory is, the queen controls minds by using her voice to strike certain head switches in your ear pan." Blumfump started as he showed Lance a drawing of the queen.

"And her magnetic stare locks on to your eye-to-brain pathway plug." Plaxum added as she showed hers.

"Plus, her mind-control sonar is always broadcasting through the waters. Bong! Bong! Bong!" Swirm added.

"And She trains her people to use hypnotic movements to lull you under her control." Plaxum finished.

After telling Lance the whole story about how the queen forced everyone to the depths and brainwashing them, the disguised mermaids gave Lance a squid that would keep him from being brainwashed again. After forming a plan, Lance tried to act like he was still brainwashed to get past the guards but they instantly knew he was lying and better him before taking him to the queen. Lucia then ordered Hunk, who was still brainwashed and under a trance to take the Blue Paladin to the Baku Garden but he fought his way out with the help of the cave dwellers before Lance freed Hunk of the trance and they captured the queen, who revealed that she was being mind controlled by the Baku, which revealed itself to be a predator. While the yellow and blue Paladins fight the creature, Lance discovered that the Blue Lion was even more powerful underwater. After killing the Baku by trapping it under several big rocks with a Sonic boom, the mermaids discovered that it was the food from the Baku that was controlling them.

**Back with Haggar and Pidge/Katie**

Haggar and Pidge had just finished making the communications array, by installing the satellite disk on top, with help from the little creatures. After connecting the last cable, the array was online. "That ought to do it. Now let's see if we can get a hold of the Castle." Pidge said with a smile, making Haggar nod.

But then... the communications array shorted out. "Oh no! The satellite doesn't have enough power" Haggar said with worry.

Pidge was close to giving up all hope as she yelled. "No, no! We need to get out of here! We need to find our friends and Haggar needs to find Allura. COME ON!"

But suddenly, the Green Lion had heard her Paladin call for help and supplied enough power for the communications array to work!

"It's working!" Haggar said happily before she and Pidge hugged as their efforts had paid off in the end.

Pidge then thanked her Lion for what it did for them. "Thanks, buddy." Before she and Haggar then entered the Lion and used the satellite to locate where their friends were "I hope the signal's strong enough to reach the Castle."

"Me too, Katie, especially Allura." Haggar said as she touched her friend's shoulder with worry for her sweet princess.

**Back at the castle**

Allura held the baby Coran in her arms worryingly as there was nothing more they could do. "Coran, what are we going to do? If we hit the end of the tunnel again, you'll cease to exist." This made the baby Coran scared and made Allura sad as she was about to lose Coran. "I'm sorry. You were like a second father to me." She said sadly as a tear came from her eye. But Just then, the castle locked onto a coordinate. "Coran, look! The Castle has locked onto a coordinate." Allura quickly entered some buttons before they reached the end of the portal. "Come on. Come on!" A portal opened just before the Castle reached the end of the tunnel, and the castle entered it. As they exited the portal, the castle was now at the same junkyard that Pidge and Haggar were at. "We made it!" Allura said happily, but groaned as she held a full mature Coran in her arms, sleeping and snoring.

Coran opened his eyes, seeing Allura. "Hm? Mom?" Before the princess dropped him annoyingly on the floor.

Haggar was beyond happy to see that her Allura was alright. "Allura!" She yelled, having felt her lover's presence through their mental link.

The Altean princess felt Haggar's presence as well and tears came from her eyes as she saw that her lover was still safe, along with Katie. "Haggar! Katie!"

Pidge and Haggar entered the castle with the Green Lion. And when they did, Haggar rushed to Allura and both shared a passionate kiss. Allura was so happy that her beloved princess was alright. "Haggar... I'm so happy you're alright. I was afraid that you-" She said before Haggar put a finger on her lips.

"It doesn't matter, Allura. I'm here now." Haggar said with a smile before they shared another kiss before Coran and Pidge joined them.

Allura hugged the Green Paladin, who was beginning to be like a sister to her and her darling princess. "You saved us, Pidge. We were stuck in a time loop."

"You got us out with this giant trash pile." Coran said happy as they were finally out of that corrupted wormhole.

Pidge explained what it really was as she hugged Allura back. "It's a make-shift communications link that sends out the Green Lion energy. It's similar to the energy that guided the Blue Lion home."

"Pidge, you're a genius!"

Pidge shrugged as she said. "I know. Besides, it wasn't just me. Haggar helped me too, and the little creatures we found."

Just then, 1 of the little creatures came from the Green Lion, apparently it took a ride with them before It came close to Haggar, who smiled and stroked its fur. "Aww, you must have hitched a ride in the Lion, huh?" Haggar could then hear the little creature's thoughts. It was saying that it wanted to come with them. Haggar was touched by this, but didn't know if it was a good idea. So she said to him softly. "I know you like me and Katie. But I feel that this place is where you belong, with your family." Before she held it close to her. "But don't worry, I'll stop by and visit you guys some time." The little creature squeaked and flickered with its light to her, before exiting the Castle and went back to its family as Coran was fascinated by these little creatures.

Allura smiled as she then said. "Let's go get the rest of the Paladins.

**Meanwhile with Shiro and Keith**

"Thanks for saving me." Shiro said to Keith as they sat down.

"You'd have done the same for me. How's your wound?" Keith asked, wanting to know how bad his friend's wound was.

"My wound's great. It's still bleeding, but other than that, I'm great. Just trying to lighten the mood." Shiro said with humor.

"Hang in there. When Allura and Coran find us, they'll fix you right up. Or maybe Haggar could do it with her power." Keith assured his leader and friend.

"Keith, if I don't make it out of here I want you to lead Voltron." Shiro said to his friend, wanting him to lead Voltron after seeing how he piloted the Black Lion to save him.

"Stop talking like that. You're gonna make it." Keith told Shiro before he saw a portal open, with the Green Lion coming out of it, much to their relief to joy, knowing that they were going to be okay.

**Meanwhile** **with** **Lance and Hunk**

After the queen declared that she would be the voice of her people once again and asking Swirm, Blumfump and Plaxum to be her advisers, she and her people helped Lance and Hunk by activating the energy beacon, which they would use to contact interstellar travelers once again. Once the beacon was activated, a few minutes later, Pidge came through a portal and rescued the Blue and Yellow Paladins and their Lions.

**Later on **

Now that all the Paladins were saved and the group was reunited, Shiro was getting healed by Haggar while she told the others about her fight with this New High Priestess of Zarkon, who named herself Dark Haggar and was an evil clone of herself. That last part shocked everyone. And even as Allura had already heard everything through her mental link with Haggar, she was as worried as the rest of the group.

Hunk at least tried to stay positive. "Well, at least that 'evil clone' of Haggar, was not as powerful to face Voltron and her at the same time."

Lance agreed to that. "Hey, yeah. When we and Haggar stick together, then at least we stand a chance against Dark Haggar."

"But what if we don't?" Haggar asked with worry. "What if we got separated again and Dark Haggar is there, waiting for Voltron, or me!? I'm not even sure that either Voltron or me are strong enough to face her alone." Allura and Katie stroked her back in support as Haggar rubbed her Allura's cheek and Katie's hair.

The others wanted to encourage Haggar that that won't happen again, but then Shiro said. "Haggar is right. With this Dark Haggar on the loose, liberating the universe from Zarkon is going to be even more difficult. We need more allies if we hope to ever win this war. We need to ask The blade of Malmora for help. And since we need them, that's where we're going to next."

"I'll plot a course immediately." Coran said before going to his control panel to set course for the Blade of Malmora's headquarters.

"While you're doing that, Katie, Allura and I need to have a private talk. Just contact us when we get there." Haggar told everyone before taking Allura by the hand and putting her other hand gently on Katie's back as they went to the bedroom for a private talk.

**Meanwhile at Zarkon's flagship**

Dark Haggar appeared before Zarkon before she bowed and explained everything about what happened on her mission. "I'm sorry, my liege. I have failed to reclaim Voltron, or to kill my weak counterpart."

Zarkon was not pleased with hearing these excuses. "I gave you command of my best war ships and you return to me empty-handed and with excuses!?"

"I swear to you, Lord Zarkon, I will find Voltron! I'll start my search right away-" She tried to say but Zarkon cut her off.

"NO! You will do nothing! You have done enough, Dark Haggar!" This made Dark Haggar angry that she wasn't allowed to search for Voltron or her weak counterpart anymore. But then Zarkon stood up from his throne. "The reason that I don't send you is because your presence has most likely already scared the Paladins and Haggar enough to hide. They know that they are no match for you. Fear is their weakness, so we'll let them run and hide and then... we will strike. You, on the other hand will keep making the Quintessence that I require and help me to find the Black Lion. My link to it is still there but weakened, and you will use your power to help in the search for it."

Dark Haggar nodded, still looking angry. "As you wish... my lord."

They went to the location chamber and the evil clone then started the ritual with the other druids to help Zarkon locate the Black Lion. But It still frustrated Dark Haggar that she couldn't get a second chance to take on her weaker counterpart. But because she has the same memories as Haggar, she found something valuable that she could use in the future. She smirked evilly while thinking to herself. _"Yes. This Prince Lotor will be a great pawn for claiming ultimate power. And as for you, Zarkon: enjoy the rest of your reign over the universe while you can, because your time is over...and my time has come! And when it does, I will enjoy crushing the life out of you, your pathetic empire...and eventually Voltron and my weakling counterpart!"_

**There you go, my friends, the Across the Universe chapter finally complete. Next is the Blade of Malmora. Rate and review. See you soon, my friends.**


	11. Blade of Molmora

**The Blade of Marmora**

The castle was nearing the Blade of Marmora's base, using the coordinates given by Ulaz before he died. Despite that the other Paladins were curious about the base, Allura, Haggar and Coran were cautious, for they weren't sure if they could trust the Galra among the resistance group, even though they are fighting against Zarkon's reign of terror. But also kept in mind that if Haggar could resist and turn against Zarkon, then so can other Galra too. However, Keith had a troubled look on his face. Haggar noticed it and wandered what was bothering him.

"Coran. How soon will we get to the Blade of Marmora's base?" Shiro asked his male Altean friend.

"Based on the coordinates that Ulaz gave us, we should be there within a few doboshes" Coran answered.

Pidge was eager to see this base, thinking that there may be some advanced tech to see and even work on. "I can't wait to see it. I mean, they were able to fold space-time and that was just at an outpost!"

Hunk nodded as he felt hungry thinking about the 'space taco'. "Mm, the space taco. It left us too soon." He said as his stomach grumbled, as he was now feeling hungry thinking about tacos.

Pidge agreed a bit, but then was imagining how amazing the base would be. "Well, sure, but my point is, imagine how amazing their home base will be!"

"Exactly. It could take on any shape. Like a space jelly donut. Or long, like a space éclair. Or a space cheese blintz with a cherry sauce on top. Maybe a little dusting of powdered sugar. That's the stars."

Hunk's imagination of space food was making Lance hungry too. "Aw! Now, I'm hungry for breakfast."

This whole thing was starting to annoy Keith and he said to the others a bit harshly. "Guys, this is a serious mission. We need to focus."

Lance then mocked Keith's annoyance. "We need to focus."

Haggar tried to ease the situation. "No, Keith is right. We should keep focused on what we could really expect and not imaging the base as some kind of space food." Then her stomach started to grumble. "Even though it did sound delicious. Maybe after Zarkon and Dark Haggar are dead, we could go to your Earth and I could take Allura to a breakfast place there."

"That actually would be great. I could even show you guys a few great Earth things I know you'd like to do together." Pidge said with a smile, thinking she could show Allura and Haggar some things on Earth.

"That would actually be great, Katie. Maybe you could show us your home on Earth and we could have a sleepover with you. Perhaps the food there would be very delicious to eat." Allura added after her lover as Haggar's grumbling stomach made Pidge, Lance and Hunk laugh a bit. Even Allura chuckled a bit but made Keith even more annoyed.

But then Coran said. "The base is in range." making everyone look at what seemed to be the base.

"Take us in slowly." Shiro said.

But Coran wasn't so sure. "That might prove the tiniest bit of a challenge."

As everyone looked at the screen at where the base was, they were all amazed at seeing a giant blue star, trapped between two black holes. "Is that a block hole?" Hunk asked.

Coran shook his head. "No, no, no, no, no. It's two black holes and a giant blue star."

"That's not better." Hunk said as he did not feel better after hearing that.

Pidge was fascinated by how clever the base was hidden, as she had never even thought of hiding a base with 2 black holes and a blue star. "No kidding. Just inside a black hole, the temperature is one millionth of a degree above absolute zero. But, just outside of that, it's hundreds of millions of degrees Celcius."

That made Hunk imagine how the base is and asked Pidge. "Okay, it's like when you try to nuke a frozen burrito in the microwave, and it comes out all scorching hot on the outside, but it's still frozen in the middle, right?"

This made Lance even more hungry. "Now, I'm hungry for lunch!"

"Guys, quiet!" Keith yelled, knowing they should knock it off before asking calmly to Coran. "Coran, where's the base located?"

Coran checked on the monitor and put it on the big screen, revealing some kind of an asteroid and answered. "In between those three deadly celestial objects."

Haggar and Pidge said simultaneously. "The perfect defensive position." That made them look at each other and smiled as they thought the same thing at the same time.

But Allura then said "Or the perfect trap."

Hunk, being a bit afraid, agreed with Allura. "Yeah, I'm with Allura. Maybe we shouldn't, like, go in there at all?"

But Keith completely disagreed and said as he lost control over his emotions. "What are you talking about?! We have to go in! This is the whole reason we came out here! There is no other option!"

"Okay. Jeez. Calm down." Lance said, knowing Keith should calm down.

Hagger didn't know what really troubled Keith, but agreed with him. "Look everyone, me, Allura and Coran don't trust this either, but Keith is right, there is no other alternative. If we are going to face Dark Haggar again, we can't do it alone. We need the help of the Blade of Marmora on this."

Just then an electronic beeping came from the front screen. It said in a female voice. "Identify yourself."

Shiro turned to Coran. "Open a hailing frequency, Coran."

The Altean servant nodded and opened a hailing frequency for Shiro, who said to the one they spoke to. "We are the Paladins of Voltron, sent here by Ulaz."

For some time, no answer came until the female computer voice said. "2 may enter. Come unarmed."

Allura didn't trust this condition at all. "Why would they insist we come unarmed? Shiro, this doesn't feel right"

"We've come too far to turn back now" Shiro said, knowing there was no way back now.

Then when they were sended a route to get to the base, Coran told them what they got. "They just sent us a route tot he base, but we'll have to move quickly"

"Why so, Coran?" Haggar asked.

"Because of the solar flares, the opening is only open for another varga. Then, it will be closed for two quintants."

Hunk didn't understand what Vaga or Quintants meant, so he asked Haggar. "They're gonna close it for two years?"

"It means it's gonna be closed for two earth days, Hunk" Haggar corrected him.

As the whole group thought of who would join Shiro to enter the base, Lance asked Shiro "So, any thoughts on who's gonna join you on this little mission? I'm thinking things might be a little hot, so you're gonna want someone who can stay cool."

Clearly Lance was mentioning he should join Shiro. But the Black Paladin said. "You're right. Keith, you're coming with me."

Lance started protesting that it is a bad idea to take Keith with him. "Now hold on! Keith's a hothead! He's probably going to shoot first and ask questions later! And they're not gonna be able to answer his questions because they'll be dead!"

Shiro became a bit angry at Lance's impulses but stayed cool by saying. "The reason that Keith is coming is because the Red Lion can withstand the heat from that sun. So that's why it'll be Keith."

Coran then warned Shiro and Keith that they shouldn't make any mistakes if they are taking the route to get into the base. "The course to the base will be quite threacherous, to say the least. You're walking a razor's edge between the gravitational pull of the black holes and the sun. One false move, and you'll either be crushed into infinity or burnt to a crisp."

Both the black and red Paladin understood as they nodded. But as they were ready to leave, Haggar wanted to talk with Shiro for a moment. "Shiro. Do you have a moment?"

"Sure. What's the matter?" He asked the Altean sorceress.

Haggar sighed as it was about Keith. "While you're going into the base, I think you should talk with Keith about what's troubling him. Even I don't have to use my powers to see that something has been bothering him ever since we were on our way to the Marmora's base."

Shiro smiled as he put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. I was already planning on talking with him about it. It'll be alright."

Haggar nodded and then said. "Just be careful when you both enter the base. I feel that something is going to happen there, and it's not gonna be pleasant."

Shiro nodded. "We will." He said before leaving with Keith to enter the Red Lion.

As the Red Lion was flying to the base, Shiro decided to talk with Keith about what was bothering him. "Keith, is everything okay?"

"I'm fine." Keith answered, trying to hide his troubles.

"You kind of blew up at everybody back there. You'll have to control your emotions if you're going to lead this group someday."

Keith looked shocked before he chuckled. "Lead the group?"

"When we were stranded, I told you, if anything ever happens to me, I want you to lead Voltron." Shiro reminded the red Paladin, remembering how Keith piloted the Black Lion to save him.

"I thought you were just delirious with pain. Why would you make me the leader?" Keith asked, wondering why Shiro would want him to lead the group.

"Because I know what you're capable of, if you can learn some self-discipline." Shiro answered.

"Why are we even talking about this? Nothing is gonna happen to you." Keith asked, despite knowing that it wasn't true.

Shiro put his hand on Keith's shoulder. "It's just in case. I need you to get focused. When you got frustrated with fighting Dark Haggar, she nearly destroyed you. If you're going to be a leader, you've got to get your head on straight."

"I'm sorry. I've just had a lot on my mind." Keith apologized.

"I know. We all have." Shiro reminded his friend before there was a crash, making an alarm blade as the Red Lion was being pulled towards 1 of the black holes.

"We're getting drawn in by one of the black holes!" Keith told his leader.

"Get us out of here!" Shiro said his friend before Keith pulled a lever before the Red Lion's thrusters engaged, pushing them out of the gravitational pull before they moved back on track and entered through the path Coran specified. "Great job! That was close."

He said with a smile before the Red Lion landed on an asteroid and Keith and Shiro exited.

"There's nothing here. This place just looks like a plain asteroid." Keith said, not seeing anything on the asteroid before panel slides opened in the rock and an secret elevator came up, revealing 2 Blade of Marmora agents.

**Meanwhile at Zarkon's ship**

A Galra in cuffs was being led through a hall by 2 soldiers while Thace, a Commander put in charge by Zarkon to find the 1 who helped Voltron escaped, but was secretly a Blade of Marmora agent who had actually _was _the 1 who destroyed the shield to allow Voltron to escape, was watching from a corner.

Dark Haggar had been assigned to interrogate every commander in the ship, ordered by Zarkon. While this secretly angered her, as she didn't like being ordered around by a weakling who let his most prized base planet get destroyed by lowly humans, she thought that it could be beneficial to her plans to eventually overthrow and kill him, along with Voltron, the Altean princess and her weak counterpart, so she reluctantly followed Zarkon's orders.

The soldiers entered an interrogation room, with the handcuffed Galra sitting on the interrogation chair, with Dark Haggar and one of her Druids standing in front of him. "I am going to ask you some questions, and I will know if you lie." She said before eyes glowed and a dark orb appeared in her outstretched hand as she looked into his memories. _"Just a little more time, and the entire universe will bow at my feet. But before then, I'll play Zarkon's little game and find this traitor. But what he won't know is that I'm planning to let this betrayer succeed so Zarkon will be dealt with much easier. If my plan works, Zarkon and his pathetic empire, Voltron and especially my weak counterpart will fall and the universe will be mine!" _

**Back at the Blade of Marmora's headquarters**

The elevator platform was going down, with the 2 Paladins and the 2 Blades on it until it stopped and a door opened, revealing several guards standing ready to protect their leader, who was standing on top of the stairs at the end of the room as a holographic symbol of the Blade of Marmora was above their heads.

Shiro and Keith approached the leader and he introduced himself. "I am Kolivan, leader of the Blade of Marmora."

"My name is Shiro and this is Keith. We are Paladins of Voltron." Shiro said, introducing himself and his friend.

"I know who you are." Kolivan said, already knowing who the humans were.

"Then you know we were sent by one of your own." Shiro said, referring to Ulaz.

"Ulaz was a fool to divulge this location to you. He had a penchant for ignoring orders and following his impulses. That's what got him killed." Kolivan said, scoffing Ulaz for getting himself killed.

"He gave his life to save us! What he did brought us here today, and Voltron is ready to assist you. Are we welcome here or not?" Shiro asked, defending the brave Galra for what he did for them.

"You were told to come unarmed." Kolivan said, as if he knew that 1 of the Paladins came with a weapon.

"You also told us to identify ourselves. The lions are about as close as we come to an ID." Keith countered with the other demand the leader made.

"If anything happens, believe me, you'll be happy you have the Red Lion on your side." Shiro added after his friend.

"I imagine we would. However, I wasn't referring to your beast." Kolivan said, thinking that the Red Lion would be crucial in case anything happened, but not referring to it.

That was when Antok, a Blade of Marmora operative, approached Keith from behind, grabbing his arm and pinning it behind his back. Keith grunted as he struggled to get free. But his foot was kicked out from under him and he crashed to the floor, quickly pinned by Antok.

"Keith!" Shiro yelled with concern as he tried to run and help his friend, but another Blade blocked his path as Keith's knife was pulled from him, its hilt unwrapped to reveal the Blade of Marmora's symbol

"He has one of our blades! Who did you steal this from?" Antok demanded.

"I didn't! I've had it all my life!" Keith answered

"Lies!" Antok said, thinking that the red Paladin was lying.

Kovlion looked at Shiro and asked. "Can you corroborate your friend's statement? Does this blade truly belong to him?"

"I... I don't know." Shiro said, not knowing if the blade really belonged to Keith due to him not telling him about it.

"Shiro, you know me. I promise you I didn't steal it. I've had this knife for as long as I can remember." Keith pleaded with his friend.

Antok pushed Keith's head down. "We can't trust them."

"I'm telling the truth." Keith said as he lifted his head. "I saw Ulaz had a knife like this. Tell me what it means."

"Our organization is built on secrecy and trust. You two should leave. Now." Kovlion told the Paladins before Antok released Keith.

The Paladins both stood up and Shiro approached Keith as he spoke to the leader. "We came here to form an alliance, but obviously we're not welcome. Come on, Keith, we're leaving."

But Keith, being the stubborn 1, wasn't going to leave without answers. "Not without some answers. Somehow, one of your knives ended up with me on planet Earth. Tell me how."

"Your friend is right. It is time for you to go." Kolivan said.

"Where did it come from? I have to know."

"You seek knowledge? There is only one way to attain knowledge here." Kovlion told the red Paladin.

"How?! I'll do it!" Keith said, willing to do anything for answers to his past.

"The trials of Marmora. Should you survive, you may keep the blade and its secrets will be revealed." Kolivan answered.

Shiro didn't like the answer and spoke to Keith. "Survive? Keith, this is crazy. If they're not going to help us, let's get out of here."

"I'm not going anywhere. I have to do this." Keith said with determination.

"Antok, give the boy the blade." Kovlion said, making Antok do just that.

"We will meet again." Antok threatened.

"Can't wait." Keith said, not afraid of the threat.

"These trials result in one of two things: Knowledge, or death." Kovlion warned.

**A few minutes later**

Keith was alone in a new room, wearing a suit similar to those of the Blade agents, holding his knife in his right hand. Suddenly, a panel opened in the center of the floor, revealing a single Blade agent.

"Surrender the blade." He said as he drew his sword. "You cannot win."

Keith growled before beginning the fight, with Keith receiving multiple blows and a cut to the shoulder, making him scream in pain as he used his left hand to apply pressure while holding the knife out in his free hand.

Shiro, who was watching Keith on a monitor screen with Kolivan, was rooting for his friend. "Come on, Keith."

Keith was grappled and effectively disarmed as his arm pulled behind him and his head forced down with a yell before the Blade agent's sword rested on the back of Keith's throat. "Surrender the blade and the pain will cease."

"I won't quit." Keith stubbornly said.

"Then the pain continues." The Blade agent said before he removed his sword from Keith's neck and let go of his arm, making the red Paladin fall on all fours while gasping before getting to his feet, looking at the Blade agent with confusion before he stepped aside, pointing to the door across the room. "You are not meant to go through that door."

But Keith just walked towards the door before starting to run and ended up in a similar room like the last 1 but, this time with two panels that opened and revealed 2 more Blades agents before they began to fight.

Shiro, getting more concerned, spoke to Kolivan, trying to protest against this trial. "This is not a fair fight!"

"Nor is taking on the Galra, yet that is the fight we face." The Blade leader countered.

Keith was beaten again as he fell to his knees, with a sword at his neck as 1 of the Blade agents said the same thing as the last 1. "Surrender the blade and the pain will cease."

But Keith, still determined, said. "Never!"

The Blade agent let go of the red Paladin and said the same thing as the last 1. "You are not meant to go through that door."

But Keith did anyway and ended up in another room with 3 more Blade agents before the fighting began, having the same results: Keith losing every fight yet still heading to the next rooms, with another agent added to the number of fighters Keith had to face.

Shiro was getting even more concerned. "How long does this go on?"

"Sometimes, the greatest challenge is knowing when to stop." Kovlion answered.

"He'll never quit." Shiro said, knowing that Keith never quits.

"One way or another, this will end. Knowledge or death." Kovlion told the Black Paladin as they watched Keith charge forward in a obviously losing battle.

**Back at the ship/castle**

Everyone was waiting for any information coming from Shiro and Keith, with Allura sitting in Haggar's lap and the 2 lovers talking with Katie about their childhood memories. But the Altean princess was getting impatient as it had been too long. "How long has it been?" She asked Coran.

"Roughly ten vargas" Coran answered.

"We cannot just wait here any longer."

Haggar then agreed with her princess. "Yes, this has been taking too long and we don't know what's going on down there."

Lance yawned as he asked Coran. "The path is closed for, like, I don't know, 30 more vargas or something?"

Coran checked on his monitor for how long it would take before the path will open again, and was surprised that it was indeed taking 30 more vargas before it opened. "That's actually correct."

"Really?" Hunk asked.

Lance chuckled as he cracked his fingers, looking smug. "Yeah, I wasn't born yester-quintant."

That comment from Lance made Allura and Haggar rolling their eyes.

Before the Altean princess stood up and checked on her monitor because she really wanted to know and see what's going on in the base. "I-I to know what's going on down there."

But Pidge/Katie immediately said that it was impossible. "There's no way to get a read on their base. Too much interference from the solar flares and the black holes."

Then Hunk suggested what they could do. "Maybe... Haggar could use her powers to see what's going on on the base?"

Everybody was then looking at Haggar, who thought about it and before saying. "I suppose I could give it a try." She then sat with her legs crossed and closed her eyes, focusing on getting a look on what was going on on the Marmora base. But because of the strong gravity of both the black holes and the blue star, and even the solar flares made it very hard to get a look inside the base. After a minute of trying, she could see small things in the base. "I... I see... Shiro, and another person with him, he's... Galran, but I cannot see his face. I can... yes, I can see Keith, but he looks... exhausted... He's doing... some kind of... trail?" But before she could make a clearance of what was going on, a strong solar flare broke her contact! Haggar opened her eyes, feeling a terrible headache. But from what she saw made her worried, and the others as well.

**Meanwhile at Zarkon's castle**

Commander Thace removed a chip from under his fingernail and plugged it into the computer to download for any data he could get for the Blade of Marmora. But during the download, a soldier entered the room, making Thace close the console and turn to him.

"Dark Haggar wishes to speak with you." He said before leaving, making Thace look surprised for a moment before he glanced back at the console, with the chip still inside it.

**Back inside the base**

Keith was visibly shaking, breathing heavily while holding his injured shoulder. The Blades stepped off of their panels and they slid down, with another sliding forward to take its place. Keith narrows his eyes and charges forward before throwing his knife, which spiraled past the Blades and landed in the panel to prevent it from closing. Keith ran to the still opened panel while fighting the Blades unarmed. 1 of them threw him and he slid across the floor, smirking as he grabbed his knife and slipped through the still open panel, worrying Shiro.

A door opened to a new room and Keith stepped out, hunched over and holding his shoulder. "Guess I really _wasn't_ supposed to go through that door." He said while gasping. As he walked forward, his vision was blurring and doubling, making him groan before he collapsed sideways.

A shadow passed over Keith and he looked up, seeing a blurred Shiro, making him blink repeatedly as Shiro got closer, offering a hand to him. "Hey, man. You did it." He said with a smile, making Keith smile weakly.

"Shiro?" He asked as he reached out and took Shiro's hand before the Black Paladin pulled him to his feet by his injured arm.

"Kolivan told me you lasted longer than anyone ever has in those battles. You don't have to keep this up." The seemingly Black Paladin said.

"What are you talking about?"

"Just give them the knife and let's get out of here."

"I can't give it to them, Shiro."

Meanwhile, the real Shiro was standing in front of the screen showing himself. "Is that a hologram?"

"His suit has the ability to create a virtual mindscape, reflecting its wearer's greatest hopes and fears. And at this moment, your friend desperately wants to see you." Kovlion answered, explaining that it was a disgusted Blade agent with a special suit.

**Back with Keith the fake Shiro**

"What is it with you and that thing?" The fake Shiro asked.

"It's the only connection I have to my past. It's my chance to learn who I really am." Keith answered honestly.

"You know exactly who you are. A Paladin of Voltron. We're all the family you need." The disguised agent said, trying to convince the red Paladin that team Voltron was all the family he'd need.

Keith Looked upset by that. "Shiro, you're like a brother to me... but I have to do this."

"No, you don't. So just give them the knife." The disguised agent implored Keith.

"I can't do that." Keith said stubbornly.

"Just give up the knife, Keith! You're only thinking of yourself, as usual!" the disguised agent yelled, making Keith's eyes widen before he looked away.

"I've made my choice." Keith said, having made up his mind.

"Then you've chosen to be alone." The disguised agent said before he started to walk away.

Keith looked down at the knife, then back up at Shiro's retreating figure. "Shiro! Wait!"

He yelled as he ran after who he thought was Shiro, but he kept walking away as a bright light engulfed them both before it shortly faded, leaving Keith in his old desert shack alone. He looked around before a loud crash startled him before he turned to the door that led outside.

"Keith." A voice called out to the red Paladin, making him quickly turn around before he gasped at who he saw: his father.

"Dad?"

"You're home, son." Keith's father said before another loud crash startled Keith, and he looked over at the window.

"What's going on outside?" Keith asked, wondering what has happening out there.

"Don't worry about that. We'll be fine as long as we stay in here. Don't you wanna catch up?" Keith's father asked, wanting to catch up with his son.

Keith frowned, looking distressed. "Of course I do."

Keith's father sighed. "Son, so many years have passed. I have so much to tell you." He said before a 3rd crash was heard, making Keith turn to face the window.

"What was that?"

"Everything's fine." Keith's father said before the red Paladin pulled the blanket off the window and gasped at what he saw: a Galra warship attacking the desert and destroying it as People could be heard screaming while the Red Lion sat immobile on the top of a cliff.

"Dad, I-I'm sorry. I gotta go. There's people that need me out there."

But Keith's father called back to his son, holding his knife. "Don't you wanna know about where you came from? Your mother gave it to me."

"Mom?" Keith asked with shock before a 4th crash and rumbling was heard and the terrified people were still screaming, but they were closer now. The Galra warship fired on the desert again, with a lot of soldiers marching upon the cabin.

Keith's father smirked, knowing that he had gotten through to his son. "She'll be here soon."

But in reality, this was only a dream, as Keith was still passed out on the floor as Shiro was now even more concerned about his friend. "You need to get him out of there." He said to Kolivan.

"He can decide when to leave." The Blade leader said, knowing that it was Keith's choice to leave.

Shiro threw his hands out in frustration. "You're messing with his mind. You're going to kill him!"

"Knowledge or death, Shiro." Kolivan reminded the Voltron leader.

Shiro gritted his teeth and started walking away, wanting the suffering of his friend to end. "I'm calling this off." But 2 Blade agents blocked his way.

**Meanwhile in Keith's head**

"You gotta tell me, Dad. I have to know. Where did the knife come from? What does it mean?" Keith said to his father, wanting to know where the knife came from.

Keith's father looked down at the knife before back at his son. "Your mother is almost here. She'll tell you everything." Before an explosion occurred outside and a light flashed in through the windows.

"I can't wait around anymore. I have to go." Keith said before walking towards the door, gripping the knob to turn it.

"If you go out that door, you'll never find out who you are." Keith's father warned him.

Keith froze, his hand still on the door. After a moment, he looked down as another explosion happened outside, light flaring inside the cabin. Keith looks over his shoulder at his father. "Goodbye, Dad." He said sadly before he opened the door and went through it.

**Back in the real world**

The Red Lion sensed its Paladin in danger and activated before it roared and fired on the base.

**Back at the ship/castle**

Allura saw this on her monitor and informed her lover and friends.. "The Red Lion is moving!"

Lance knew that something was wrong and said "We need to get down there!"

But Hunk shook his head. "We can't! The opening won't be ready for five more minutes."

Haggar became worried as well, for she felt that it had something to do with those 'trials' that Keith is facing.

"The Red Lion has started attacking!" Coran said as the screen showed that the Red Lion was attacking the base, making Hunk confused about this.

"Wait, what does that mean? Why would the Lion attack? Unless..."

"Unless something's wrong with Keith" Haggar finished for the yellow Paladin.

"Everyone, stay focused." Allura said to the Paladins, her lover and servant/friend.

**Meanwhile at Zarkon's ship**

Thace sitting in the interrogation chair, with Dark Haggar standing in front of him with two Druids at her side. "I am going to ask you some questions. I will know if you lie. I have reason to believe that a spy has infiltrated Galra command."

"That is very alarming." Thace said, pretending to be alarmed to protect the Blade of Marmora and Voltron.

"Indeed. Are you aware of any spies within our ranks?" Dark Haggar asked, despite already knowing that he was the spy due to seeing his memories.

"No." Thace said as his eyes widened as Dark Haggar's outstretched hand formed a dark sphere of energy.

"Commander Thace, are you the one who lowered the solar barrier during the Voltron attack, allowing it to escape?" Dark Haggar asked, pretending that she didn't already know that Thace was the spy in order to keep him, Zarkon or Voltron and her weak counterpart from finding out her true plans.

"No. I fight in the name of Galra. I am loyal to Zarkon." Thace answered.

Dark Haggar's eyes narrowed before she lowered her hand. "You will help me root out this traitor." She said before turning her back to him. "We will destroy him and all who threaten our reign." She added before leaving the room with an evil grin on her face, knowing that everything was going according to plan.

**Back at the Blade of Marmora headquarters. **

The Red Lion fired on the base, trying to get to Keith as the trial room shaked, the screens showing only static and alarms blaring as Kolivan and Antok were in the room, along with Shiro, who was restrained by 2 Blade members. Suddenly, another Blade ran in. "The Red Lion is attacking the base! It's trying to break through!"

"It has a link with Keith. It knows when he's in danger. It's coming for him." Shiro tried to tell them as debris collapsed into the room. Everyone grunted, allowing Shiro to elbow the first Galra holding him before ducking out of the second 1's grip before he ran from the room, with the Blades following him out.

Keith, who opened his eyes as the base was being destroyed around him, heard as Shiro ran into the room and helped him to his feet. "Keith, are you okay?" He asked with concern before Kolivan and his Blade agents came in.

"Stop what you're doing!" He ordered as Shiro put Keith's injured arm over his shoulders, supporting him while Keith stood and loosely gripped his knife in his left hand.

"What are you talking about? What's going on?" Keith asked, not knowing what they were talking about.

"Call off your beast!" Kolivan told the Red Paladin.

"Move out of the way! We're leaving!" Shiro demanded.

"You're not leaving with that blade. It does not belong to you. You failed to awaken it!"

"What does that mean?"

Antok pulled out his sword and charged at the Paladins. "Give up the blade!" Before Shiro let go of Keith and activated his prosthetic arm, charging forward to meet Antok's strike.

But when they clashed, Keith stopped the fight. "Wait! Just take the knife!" He said as he held out the knife hilt first, making Shiro deactivate his prosthetic arm and Antok lower his blade, both turning to look at Keith. "It doesn't matter where I come from. I know who I am. We all need to work together to defeat Zarkon. And if that means I give up this knife, fine. Take it." He said, knowing now that his past didn't matter anymore. But then the Blade insignia glowed faintly, confusing him before the light became a blinding white, signaling that Keith had finally awakened the blade.

"You've awoken the blade!" Antok said as the knife glowled brightly, shifting into a long, curved sword.

"The only way this is possible is if Galra blood runs through your veins." Kovlion said, revealing that the blade had awoken because Keith had Galra blood running through his veins.

**Back at the ship/castle**

"Five... four... three... two... one!" Coran counted down before the pathway on the screen flashed and the Red Lion flew into view, making everyone happy as the mission was successful.

_"Princess, we're coming back, and we're bringing someone you should meet." _Shiro informed Allura through the communications.

"They're all right!" Coran said before everyone began to celebrate, with Allura and Haggar sharing a passionate kiss.

"Yes, they did it!" Pidge/Katie said with happiness as she shared a hug with the Altean lovers.

The Red Lion landed in the hangar before Keith, Shiro, and Kolivan stepped out to meet the others. Kolivan's mask then vanished, revealing his face before he pulled down his hood bowed Allura. "Princess Allura, it's good to see that the rumors are true. You're still alive after all these years." He said with respect to the Altean princess.

Allura was not comfortable with the Galra but said back to him. "So is Zarkon. Can we consider you our ally in the fight against him?"

Kolivan rose up and said. "Yes, but we have little time to-" Before he interrupted himself as Haggar entered the hanger, shocked seeing the High Priestess of Zarkon, he drew his blade. "YOU!" This made the other Paladins draw their weapons as Kolivan knew that there was something going on. "I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT THIS WAS A TRAP!"

Keith tried to let him know that Haggar is on their side now as he got in front of him. "Kolivan, wait! This is a misunderstanding! Haggar is on our side now!"

But the Blade leader didn't believe the red Paladin. "Obviously that witch has you all controlled by your minds! I won't fall for it!"

Then as the leader charged on Haggar, she quickly used her powers to show Kolivan her memories. "Wait! I'm not who you think that I am, or what I once was."

As Haggar's memories rushed through Kolivan's mind, he began to understand that Haggar really did turn and is now fighting with team Voltron against Zarkon. After Haggar showed him everything, he lowered his blade and said apologetically. "I see now. Forgive me, princess Haggar."

As the other Paladins lowered their weapons too, they were surprised how Kolivan called Haggar a princess, as even Haggar herself didn't expect to be called that, only by Allura. But she was flattered anyway. "It's alright, Kolivan. Not everyone isn't yet convinced that I help Allura and the Paladins now."

Kolivan nodded and turned back to say what he had to say. "Right. What I tried to say is, that we have little time to discuss all of this. I just received word from our spy inside the Galran hierarchy. They have become aware of our presence, so the timetable for our plan has been moved up."

"How soon do we need to begin?" Shiro asked, which made Kolivan look serious to everyone.

"Now." He answered.

**There you go, my friends. The Blade of Molmora is complete. Next will the Staying Alive episode. Rate and review. See you soon, my friends.**


	12. Staying Alive

**Staying Alive**

Shortly after awakening the blade and discovering that he is part Galran...Allura was avoiding Keith, as she didn't know how to feel about the Red Paladin, due to learning that he was a hybrid: half Human/half Galran. The rest of the team tried to persuade the Princess to get over her doubts about Keith, as he was still their friend and fellow Paladin...even though Lance was also giving Keith the cold shoulder and a hard time, which went completely unnoticed from Shiro and the rest of their teammates, but were unsuccessful. However, Haggar fortunately brought her lover and future wife back to her senses: by reminding her beloved that she took a huge gamble bringing her back to the castle and convincing Shiro and his team to trust her...despite all the horrible things she did while serving Zarkon.

"I know, my darling princess. I just... feel like... Keith could betray us at any time and given his reputation on the team, he'll more than likely do something that could endanger the team and us." Allura said with doubt.

"I understand that you have every right to be angry, my sweet princess, but despite Keith recently discovered ancestry, he's nothing like Zarkon or any Galra that is still loyal to him. And remember that if the Blade of Molmora and even myself can turn against Zarkon, then Keith deserves to have the same chance that you gave me. And besides, if Keith does do something that will potentially endanger the team and you, I'll personally make him wish he'd never been born." Haggar assured her princess, thinking Keith deserves a chance despite his recently discovered ancestry, but vowing to make him wish he'd never been born should he do something that will potentially endanger the team and Allura.

Allura smiled at this before kissing her lover on the lips passionately. "You're right, my darling princess. But before we do anything else, let's go find Keith, so I can apologize to him."

**Meanwhile in another part of the ship/castle**

Lance was irritating Keith by bringing up the fact that he was half Galran and having the nerve of accusing him of being a double agent...which caused a nasty fight between the 2 of them. Keith tackled Lance to the floor, landing a number of punches to his face, which the Blue Paladin had attempted to block before swiftly swapping positions and landing a number of punches which ended with the Red Paladin trapped Lance's neck in a scissor lock, strangling him with his ankles while the Blue Paladin gagged and tapped out, which Keith completely ignored...until Hunk, Pidge and Shiro heard all the commotion and stared shocked before breaking up the fight!

Hunk shouted while holding Lance back, as he attempted to charge at Keith. "Lance, knock it off! That's enough, man! Knock it off!"

Pidge/Katie shouted while she and Shiro held Keith back. "Keith, he's not worth it! He's not worth it!"

That was when Allura and Haggar heard all the commotion and saw what was going on before the princesses shouted. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"

Both Lance and Keith replied angrily. "IT'S HIM! HE STARTED IT!"

Allura and Haggar looked at each other and after giving her lover a soft nod, the ex-Galran sorceress used her powers to levitate and suspend the two Paladins in the air with Lance stating. "Hey, put us down!"

The angered Princess stated. "You want my Haggar to put you both down? Then explain your actions...now. Keith, you first."

The Red Paladin stated after Haggar placed him and Lance back on the floor, explaining that he was just minding his own business when Lance had been acting like a total dick ever since they learned he's half Galran and had the nerve of calling him a double agent and traitor, much to the anger and disgust of their teammates, Allura and Haggar as they glared daggers at the Blue Paladin! Lance coldly stated he had every right accusing Keith of being a traitor...only to have Allura slap him hard across his face. She coldly informed Lance that he was a disgrace and embarrassment to the name of Paladin and give him an ultimatum: either leave Keith alone or she would have her lover severe his connection with the Blue Lion and replace him with someone more worthy to being the Blue Paladin, much to his great shock...but disdainfully agreed to leave the Red Paladin alone, while ignoring the disgusted looks Shiro, Pidge and Hunk gave him as they walked away with Keith.

**Later on the bridge of the ship/castle**

Team Voltron and the Altean princesses and lovers were meeting with Kolivan and some Blades of Molmora agents, going over Zarkon's ship and looking for a way to destroy it, along with Zarkon and Dark Haggar, which they found after going over a holographic image of it as Hunk woke up from being asleep for a few hours. "We've got it. If we can coordinate everything just right-" Shiro said before Kolivan finished for the team leader.

"Zarkon's reign will be at an end, and the universe will finally be free of him."

"But everyone here should remember that Dark Haggar is mine. I brought that monster into the universe and I will be the 1 who destroys her for good." Haggar told everyone, wanting to be the 1 to end her evil counterpart.

"But you can't fight Dark Haggar alone, you'll need Voltron to help you." Katie said with concern for her Altean friend.

"I know Katie, but I'm the main 1 she wants to kill, so she'll more than likely come after me...and more than likely kill Zarkon if he tries to get in her way." Haggar explained to her human friend.

"But princess Haggar, how do you know what your counterpart is thinking? You can't possibly think that she'd possibly try to kill the 1 who created her in the 1st place." Kovlian wondered, not believing that Haggar could know what her evil counterpart was thinking.

"Dark Haggar came from me, Kovlian! She was a part of me before even _I _knew she existed. And as such, I can see and hear her thoughts well. The only reason she doesn't know about what we're planning is because I've permanently blocked her from entering my mind. She's been secretly plotting to overthrow and kill Zarkon and claim the universe for herself, although how she plans to do it, I still don't know. As long as she remains alive, the universe will never be free, even if Zarkon is dead by our hands or by hers." Haggar explained with a fierce look on her face.

"Then we should make destroying both of them our highest priority. Let's do it for Ulaz. He died trying to bring us together, so let's honor him by destroying Dark Haggar and Zarkon." Shiro said as he shook Kovlion's hand.

"If things go according to plan, they both should be dead in a matter of mere days." Allura said as she embraced her lover and darling princess.

"Yes. And perhaps you'll learn that not all Galra are as evil as Zarkon or your princess' counterpart." Kovlian said with a glare at the Altean princess.

"Keith, I know isn't half as evil as Zarkon or Dark Haggar, if not for my darling princess bringing me to my senses and convincing me of it and by reminding me that she betrayed Zarkon out of love for me. But you and your agents, I'm not so sure about." Allura said while glaring back at the Blade leader.

Everyone was then given specific tasks to collect all the stuff for building a giant teludav. Hunk and Keith were assigned to go into the belly of a weblum to collect a scaultrite. Shiro, Pidge/Katie and Lance were to free the scientist, Slav. Allura and Haggar chose to head to Balmera to get a crystal big enough for the teludav and Coran was to head to Olkari to start building the teludav.

After Keith and Hunk left, Katie shared a hug with Haggar and Allura, wishing each other luck on their missions. "Be careful Katie, it'll be dangerous going to that prison. But when you do happen to succeed and when Zarkon and Dark Haggar are dead, you can show us Earth and what life is like there." Haggar said with a smile while rubbing Katie's hair.

"If you have a home on Earth, we'll have a girl's night and a sleepover, and we'll show you some things that Haggar and I did together as teenagers on Altea... and even teach you our native language and tell you about the amazing tech there. Just think about that during the mission as your motivation to get through it, ok?" Allura added after her lover and darling princess.

"I will. Hope you guys do well on your mission, too." Katie said before Haggar and Allura kissed her on her forehead for good luck, making her smile before she hugged them again.

Lance then thought of getting a kiss for good luck from Allura, but seeing Haggar's fierce look as she could read his mind, he quickly dismissed it and instead said nervously. "Well... Good luck, ehh... call me or.. us if you need any help" he said as he nervously smiled.

Haggar was glad that he took those dirty things out of his mind as Allura said to Lance. "Thanks. We will." Before the rest of the team all departed for their tasks.

**A few days later with Allura and Haggar**

While the Altean princesses the trip to Balmera would take a few days, Allura and her lover Haggar were doing these 'road trip games' that Hunk told them about. The Altean princesses were playing with the mice, guessing what the word was. Haggar didn't look into the thoughts of the mice because that would be cheating. "All right then, what's the next one?" Allura asks the mice.

They squeaked as Haggar knew it was two words. "Two words." The mice squeaked as that was right.

Allura asked. "Second word?" 1"of the mice made a wave with its paw. "Waves?" She guessed before the mice shook their heads as that was not correct.

"So we're close?" Haggar asked as Allura had tried to guess the word. "Ocean? Splash? Drink? Water?" The mice nodded as 'water' was the right word.

Both Altean women were happy that they got the right word. "All right then. First word?" Haggar asked before the mice then stood on top of each other, pretending they were a large creature that growled. "That's a Bytor!" Haggar said before both of them said simultaneously. "Bytor Water!"

The mice squeaked happily as that was the right word. Allura and Haggar laughed as they enjoyed this game before Allura said to her lover. "Hunk was right. These Earth road trip games do help pass the time, Haggar."

Haggar nodded as she moved closer to her princess. "Indeed. But it would be even more better, if we could pass the time in a... different way, my sweet princess." She said as she rubbed her left hand between Allura's legs, making her moan as she smiled to her as Allura could see through their link what Haggar thought about right now.

"Well... I guess we still have some time... for that, my love. After all, we never got the chance to do it again before we were interrupted and attacked." Allura said while rubbing her lover's breasts, making Haggar moan before both then passionately kissed. But their romantic moment was disturbed when the commlink turned on.

Both sighed in disappointment as they stood up and opened the hailing frequency and saw that It was Coran who was contacting them. "How are you both? Are you almost at the Balmera?"

Haggar answered by saying with a little bit of disappointment as she'd been eager to have sex with her princess again. "We're scheduled to arrive in just a few doboshes."

But Allura was unsure if they would be successful. "I just hope we're able to find a crystal big enough for the teludav."

Haggar rubbed her back in support. "Don't worry, my sweet princess. We will." This warmed Allura's heart as she smiled before giving her lover a kiss on her lips.

Coran then asked if they had contact with the other Paladins. "Have you heard from the other Paladins?"

"We had contact with Lance, Shiro and Katie a little bit ago. They've located Slav." Allura answered.

"What about Hunk and Keith?" Coran asked.

Haggar answered this time while she shook her head. "No word from them yet."

Coran then said confidently while playing with his mustache. "I have no doubt my scientifically accurate instructional video was a great help."

Haggar rolled her eyes as Allura said with some doubt that Coran's old instructional video was helpful "I'm... sure it was."

Haggar then asked. "If they collect enough scaultrite for the lenses, will your teludav structure be complete?"

Coran nodded. "It's nearly done. The Olkari and I have been working on it day and night. It will be ready in time."

Allura then signed. "Oh, I hope so."

This made Coran worried as he wanted to know what worried Allura so much. "What's going on, Princess? You sound worried."

Haggar could sense through their shared link what worried her princess so much. "You were thinking of your father, right?"

Allura nodded sadly. "Yes. He gave his life to try to keep Voltron out of Zarkon's hands and... now we have a chance to defeat him." She answered before a tear came from her eye. "I... I don't want to fail."

Haggar held Allura's hand as she would never fail, as long as they were together. Coran encouraged Allura by saying. "You know... Princess, your father would be proud of you. It wasn't that long ago we found out Altea had been destroyed."

Allura wiped away her tears but was still sad. "I've never felt so alone. I lost so much, my father, my kingdom... even you, Haggar, my darling princess." She said as she looked into Haggar's eyes.

The Altean sorceress nodded as she felt the same thing back then. "Me too. I was lonely, for 10'000 years without you, my sweet princess."

Coran then said that he felt the same thing. "I too have felt so alone then. And we could have easily given up. But we didn't. You didn't, Allura. And now look at us. We reformed Voltron. We freed Haggar, the Olkari and the Balmerans, and now they're working alongside us."

Allura smiled as Coran was right. "You're right, Coran. We have allies, and I have the love of my life back... forever."

Haggar then also said, as she knew their alliance was going to defeat Zarkon and her evil counterpart. "And that's what's going to defeat Zarkon and Dark Haggar."

Coran saluted as he wished them both good luck on Balmera. "Crash a squizzle on the Balmera, Princesses!"

"Thank you, Coran." Allura said before breaking contact and taking the controls as the ship was closing in on the Balmera planet.

Just as Haggar got to her side of the controls, Allura pulled her darling princess to her and they both shared 1 last kiss. And through their mental link, both agreed that once they were done on Balmera, they would have a special passionate night together...with no interruptions whatsoever.

**A few minutes later on the Balmera planet**

The Balmerans saw the castle of princess Allura entering through the atmosphere before it landed on the planet's surface. They were happy to see the Paladins again after freeing their world from the Galra, especially Shay, who was joyful at the thought of seeing Hunk again.

**Meanwhile inside the ship/castle**

Before Allura and Haggar entered the pod that would bring them to the surface of the planet, Haggar wasn't sure that she should come with Allura to see the Balmera, especially after what she did to its people under Zarkon and sending that monster to the planet last time. Allura could feel it through their mental link and held Haggar's hands as they looked into each other's eyes. Allura then softly said to her lover. "I know you feel troubled, my darling princess, for what you have done to the Balmera, but you're not the evil high priestess that the universe once knew. If we show them how much you've changed, they will forgive you... I promise."

Haggar gave her lover a small smile as she nodded, encouraged by her sweet princess' words. "Okay."

Both princesses entered the pod before it lowered itself down below. When it touched the surface, it opened its doors before all the Balmerans looked shocked to see Zarkon's high priestess together with Allura. Shay's grandmother asked as Allura and Haggar slowly approached them. "Princess Allura... the... Balmera welcomes your return."

Allura could see the fear for Haggar by all the Balmerans before she explained to them. "I know that you all are confused to see Haggar with me, but I can explain it."

Haggar put her hand on her lover's shoulder and shook her head. "You don't have to. I'll show it to them." She said with a determined face before Allura nodded, as she remembered that her Haggar did it before with Kolivan. Haggar raised her hands and showed to all the Balmerans her past: her being forced to serve Zarkon as his high priestess, her redemption after being freed by Allura and the love bond that she shared with the Altean princess.

All the Balmerans were amazed at what Haggar showed to them before Shay was the first to speak as she was horrified at what Haggar had to go through under Zarkon and losing Allura and her mother. "That's... awful, Haggar. That you had to go through so much."

Haggar still felt sad after showing her memories to the Balmerans. "I know I have done horrible things to your people, when I still served Zarkon. There is no excuse for my actions. I only hope that... you all can forgive me." She said as Allura held her hand after her darling princess was through speaking.

Shay's grandmother smiled at Haggar and said. "Saving so many innocent people and helping Voltron to free the universe from Zarkon, is more than enough to convince us all. The Balmera forgives you for your actions, Princess Haggar."

Haggar smiled as she bowed before Shay's grandmother. "Thank you. Thank you all."

Then Shay asked both princesses if Hunk was among them as she put her hands on her chest where her heart was, for she had been hoping to see him again after saving her last time. "Princesses, did Hunk accompany you both? I've been waiting for so long to see him again."

Allura however told her that Hunk was not with them this time. "I'm sorry, Shay, but me and Haggar have come alone. The others are on missions of their own, collecting important elements that we need to defeat Zarkon."

This surprised Shay and her people. "Defeat Zarkon?"

Her grandmother then asked. "How can we help? The Balmera and its people can never thank you and the Paladins enough for all that you have done."

Allura then told them how they could help her and Haggar. "If the Balmera will give it, we need a crystal."

"Battleship class?" Shay asked.

Haggar shook her head "Bigger. Much bigger."

Shay's grandmother nodded and led the Princesses inside the Balmera caves. While they walked, Haggar looked in the distance for a short time, seeing the same monster she had sent before to destroy Voltron when she served Zarkon, now imprisoned in a giant crystal of the Balmera. Haggar could still feel some life energy from the monster, sensing that it was still alive. She hoped that this thing would never be released to harm the Balmera again, but had a bad feeling about it.

**Meanwhile on Zarkon's flagship**

Dark Haggar was checking some of the relics that Haggar had collected under Zarkon when she was disturbed by 2 of her Druids. "Dark Haggar."

"What is it?" The evil clone asked with a bit of anger at being interrupted in her work.

The other Druid then said. "We found further evidence of the spy within our fleet." He said before he showed a chip that was found. "This encrypted chip was in the outbound quantum entanglement chain."

Dark Haggar already had a plan to get the 'traitor' into her hands, knowing that it would bring her 1 step closer to achieving her ultimate goal. She then ordered the druids with an evil grin. "Put the chip back, and wait to see who retrieves it." The Druids nodded and left Dark Haggar alone, not knowing about her true intentions.

**Back on the Balmera planet**

The Balmerans led the Altean Princesses to 1 of the caverns that had only reemerged ever since the Galra left. Both Altean women looked amazed as they saw a very large crystal in the middle of it. "Incredible" Allura said, with Haggar nodding.

Shay explained how this crystal had remained untouched since the Galra occupation. "When the Galra were here, these caverns were closed off. As if the Balmera was protecting itself. Now that the Balmera is free and healed, the crystal caverns are opened once more."

Allura and Haggar approached the crystal and put both their hands on it, letting it glow and making a humming voice. All the Balmerans went on their knees as they put their hands on the surface, to begin the ceremony, so the Balmera would grant the crystal to the Altean Princesses.

Rumbling was felt throughout the cavern, as the crystal loosed, giving it to Allura and Haggar. Both women kept focused but Shay was worried of what that rumble was. "Why does it rumble? Perhaps because a crystal this big has never been asked for?"

Shay's grandmother shook her head. "No, this is something different."

"Shall we stop the ceremony?" Shay asked, wondering if the ceremony should be stopped.

But the old Balmeran said to her granddaughter. "No. Let them finish."

After a few more minutes, the crystal was finally loosed, as the Balmera had granted the giant crystal to the Altean lovers. Both smiled as Haggar said to the Balmera. "Thank you."

After several hours, the Balmerans had loaded the giant crystal onto the castle. "The crystal has been loaded onto your castle, princesses." Shay told the two Princesses as she and the Balmerans were saying goodbye to the two Altean lovers,with Shay and her grandmother sharing a hug with them.

"We wish you both could stay longer, especially you, princess Haggar. I'm sure my granddaughter would have loved to get to know you better." Shay's grandmother said gently before she gave the pair something for the journey. "I made you stickercup stew for the sky road."

The stew looked like a big green squid and did not look delicious to either Allura nor Haggar, but Allura said kindly. "Oh, thank you... I'm... sure we'll... enjoy this immensely."

Haggar nodded as she cleared her throat and said to all the Balmerans. "Thank you all for your help... and forgiving me for my past mistakes."

But then a huge rumbling was heard, making all the Balmerans gasp and scream. Allura looked around at what could have caused that rumbling. "What was that?"

Haggar looked at the monster, trapped in the crystal and pointed to it, without looking at Allura. "Look."

The giant crystal cracked and fell into pieces. The monster glowed with it's new achieved powers. Both Allura and Haggar's eyes went wide. "Oh, no!" Allura said shocked.

All the Balmerans ran in fear as they yelled and screamed out of panic. Haggar then said to Shay and Allura. "Shay, take everyone to cover in the Balmera! Allura, activate the Castle's defenses." Before she turned to the monster and said while her eyes glowed white. "I'll deal with that thing."

Allura did as her lover told her while Shay did the same as the monster finally broke out of its prison before 2 dark crystals formed around it like shields. Allura got the castle's barrier up and fired on the monster but the shields protected it against the lasers and Haggar's magic, forcing the Altean lovers to lure the monster off the planet, with Haggar strangely not having any problem breathing or freezing in space because of her powers, much to Allura's amazement before she remembered what Katie told her when everyone was reunited again. While Haggar distracted the monster, Allura contacted the Paladins and In a few minutes, they arrived through 2 wormholes.

"Haggar!" Katie said with concern for her Altean friend.

"Don't worry about me, Katie. Just get inside the castle, get into your Lions and form Voltron. I'll distract this thing as long as I can!" Haggar told the Paladins, who did just that. While Haggar distracted the monster using all of her power, the Paladins quickly got into the castle, got into their respective Lions and after a few minutes, Voltron was formed! Haggar then waited for the right moment before she used her magic to increase the power of Voltron's sword before getting out of the way as the blade stabbed through the monster's shields and chest, causing it to blow up, completely destroying it!

**A few minutes later**

As the Paladins exited their Lions, they walked together with Haggar to the bridge. There they saw the alien scientist, Slave, lying like a lazy guy while pressing a lot of buttons, while moaning about how the castle was built. "Why is there a grand entrance on the 40th floor? And what's with all the ziplines? You have hover technology."

Allura was becoming really annoyed and irritated by Slav's pessimism and told him. "Well, you know what? Ziplines were quite fashionable 10,000 years ago."

Keith was the first to ask Allura. "Allura, have you heard from Coran?"

Allura looked at Keith before embracing her darling princess. "Yes."

Lance then asked. "So we're ready to pop through the wormhole and get back to Okarion?"

Allura turned around and happily answered. "Yes, I've checked in with Coran and the teludav is nearly complete." She then looked at Hunk and Keith, wanting to thank them for getting the scaultrite "Hunk. Keith, thank you both for getting the scaultrite."

"No problem." Hunk said with a smile.

**A little while later on Okarion**

While Allura and Haggar looked over the teludav together, they were approached by Coran, who wanted to talk with Allura about something. "Allura, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

Allura turned herself to face Coran and asked. "What is it, Coran?"

Coran then spoke about his worries. "This plan of ours, It's... well, it's dangerous, you know? We're taking certain risks. You are taking certain risks. This teludav, the amount of exertion it will take... I ju- You may not survive."

Allura said that she knew the risks and was willing to take it. "Coran, I know the risks... we both do." Allura looked at Haggar, knowing that she knew the risk too.

Haggar nodded and said softly while reaching to her hand. "As long as i'm around, nothing is going to separate us... not this time. And if we don't make it... then at least we'll be together, forever... in the afterlife." Allura smiled to her lover as tears started to form in her eyes. She then embraced Haggar and gave her a soft kiss.

Coran smiled and was about to let the two Altean women have some privacy, but stopped and said before leaving. "Your father would be proud of the leader that you've become, Allura. And you too... Princess Haggar."

When Coran was away, Allura wondered why now Coran had started to call Haggar princess as well before Allura said with a smile. "It's... nearly like a dream. Now everyone is accepting us being together, they've forgiven your past being under Zarkon, and... even calling you princess now."

Haggar smiled as she thought of what could have caused that now everyone called her Princess. "I guess me being in a relationship with the crown princess of Altea, makes me a princess as well."

Allura raised an eyebrow, not sure if that was the reason. "But, we're not even married. So I don't see why they all call you princess."

Haggar shook as Allura was right. "No. We're not married, yet. But because we're bonded with our souls... makes us already married, in spirit."

Allura nodded, as that made a lot of sense about everyone calling Haggar princess. She then put her arms around her neck and whispered. "I think we need a bit more... privacy... for the night." Haggar smiled wide as she thought about the same thing. Both shared a passionate kiss as Haggar teleported them to their bedroom in the castle.

In their room, Haggar pushed Allura instantly on the bed and jumped on top of her. Both laughed a bit as they kept passionately kissing, making their tongues dancing with each other in their mouths. Haggar removed Allura's upper suit, as she did the same to Haggar. Allura then kissed her on the neck, making her moan as she rubbed Allura's back. "Hmmm... Oh, Allura."

Allura then untied Haggar's bra, revealing her beautiful breasts. As Allura rubbed Haggar's breasts, Haggar removed Allura's bra with her magic. Allura then moved Haggar over, so she was on top now. She kissed and licked Haggar's breasts, making her to moan even more. "Aaahhh... Yes... Oh, yes, Allura."

But then, Haggar made Allura stop by gently pushing her back a bit as both looked at each other. Allura wanted to know why she stopped her. "Hey... what is it?"

Haggar then smiled as she said. "I want to take our lovemaking to a whole new level, my sweet princess."

Allura was curious about that and asked while smirking. "And what did you have in mind, Princess Haggar?"

Haggar used her magic to shut down one of the systems in the room, making everything float. Haggar grabbed Allura and said. "Something I always wanted to try, Allura. Making love with no gravity!"

Haggar then pushed her lover to the ceiling as she rushed to Allura before she started making out with her, which Allura gladly returned. Both lovers rubbed, kissed and licked each other throughout each other's bodies before both instantly removed their pants and panties.

As both lovers nearly fought for dominance while in zero-G, both fingered each other and licked and kissed their breasts. Allura and Haggar moaned like crazy. "OH FUCK YEAH! THIS IS... AMAZING HAGGAR!"

"You're damn right it is, my sweet princess! OH FUCK!" Haggar yelled/moaned before they pushed and pulled each other from 1 wall to the other, not stopping their love making, since they were enjoying every second of it due to only doing it when they were reunited after Haggar's rescue from Zarkon's torture.

As they crashed onto the bed, Allura reached her hand under the bed, not stopping her tongue kissing with her lover. Haggar noticed Allura taking something and was surprised that it was a green colored Strap-on Dildo. Allura smirked as she showed her newly bought sextoy. "I also want to try something to take our lovemaking to the next level."

Haggar never knew that Allura could be so kinky, but as long as it was her, she would love to let Allura take her. With nothing but lust, Haggar said. "Then you better take me now, before I do it, my kinky princess!"

Allura did so as she grabbed Haggar and turned her over so she lied on her belly, while holding her head down. "Oh, I'm gonna show you my lustful side, right now!"

Haggar used her magic to put the strap-on dildo on fast as Allura pushed it straight into her lover's wet pussy. "AAAHHH!" Haggar yelled out of pleasure as Allura penetrated her so deep, all the way to her cervix. Allura started to stroke it slowly in and out. But Haggar made her push it deeper with her magic. "NNNGAH! P-Please, Allura! I want you deep inside me! DON'T HOLD BACK!" Allura applied and stroked her dildo in and out deeply into her darling princess, making Haggar moan more and more as Allura went faster. "YEAH! OH FUCK FUCK FUCK, YES! FUCK ME SO HARD! OH YEEEEAH!"

The dildo started to pleasure Allura's clitoris as well, as it was made to increase the user's pleasure when he or she went faster. "OH YES! THIS IS FUCKING AMAZING! HA-HAGGAR!"

"KEEP GOING BABY! FUCK ME, FUCK ME HARD!" Haggar yelled, not wanting this to stop.

They kept going for minutes till, Haggar felt that her greatest climax was coming. "ALLURA! I'M... CUMMING! NNGAHH-! AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Haggar squirted her juices out, but her orgasm kept going for 10 seconds, making her hips move on their own to the amazing pleasure.

Allura felt that that was also very amazing, as she nearly came too. "Oh... wow... that was gre-"

But before she could finish her sentence, Haggar turned herself, grabbed Allura and pushed her to a wall, holding her tight as she used her magic to put on the Dildo. "Now it's my turn."

When the dildo was on, Haggar instantly penetrated Allura's very wet pussy deeply as she did to her. Allura never felt any pleasure like this before and wanted Haggar to keep doing it hard to her. "FUCK! Yes! Do it to me hard too, Haggar!"

Haggar smiled and panted as she stroked the dildo in Allura just as hard as she did to her, making both lovers go crazy. As Haggar did it to Allura from wall to wall while still in missionary and rubbed her nipples with hers, Allura felt a very strong climax coming "HA-HA-HAGGAR! Fuck YEAH! Fuck me! FUCK ME HARD! I... OH FUCK I'M GOING CUM LIKE CRAZY!"

The dildo pleasured Haggar so much that she reached another climax as well. "YES ALLURA! Let's... LETS CUM TOGETHER!" After a minute, both climaxed at the same time, releasing a lot of juices and kept Allura close to her as they continued cumming for 10 seconds.

Both panted and sweated as Allura wanted to rest, but Haggar still felt so horny that she embraced Allura while saying softly. "That was... so amazing... But doing it without this toy... will always be my favorite part!" Haggar removed the dildo and took Allura straight on pussy to pussy while both flowed in midair in zero gravity.

Allura wanted Haggar to stop, but the increasing pleasure was making her body want more. "Oh... YEAH! Fuck yeah! FUCK FUCK FUCK ME, YES!" Allura moaned as she held the side of the bed with her arms as Haggar kept scissoring her in mid air.

Both lovers could feel their final climaxes coming. "FUCK YES YES! I'M... I'M CUMMING, ALLURA!"

"YES! YES FUCK ME YES, COME WITH ME... HAGGAR!"

"ALLURA OH FUCK I... I'M... FUUUUUUUUCK!"

"HAGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!"

Both of their climaxes were so intense that their juices squirted like crazy all over the room and even went inside both pussies. Both panted as this was the most amazing sex they ever experienced with each other. Haggar restored the gravity, but used her magic so both she and Allura would be placed softly back on the bed.

Allura lied on her back while Haggar lied on Allura's chest. Their sex had made the room so hot that it felt like they were in a sauna, just like their 1st time. Allura then said after resting for a few minutes. "That... was... the... best... sex... ever."

Haggar slowly nodded as she had never thought that this would be so amazing. "Yeah... that was... incredible... But... where did you get that sex-toy?"

Allura confessed while looking innocent. "Well... I bought it in a 'adult shop' here on Okarion." Before she asked Haggar as she rubbed her hair. "And where did you even get this idea of... having sex in zero gravity?"

Haggar shrugged as she explained. "I don't know... I... suddenly remembered that it was 1 of my wildest fantasies to do it with you, and I wanted to try it to make it special...and so we could go a little crazy... this time."

Allura kissed Haggar again and smiled at her. "Well... it's now 1 of my favorite things to do with you, my darling princess."

"Mine too... my sweet princess." Haggar said with a smile before she wrapped her arms and legs around her lover before Allura pressed a button so the room would be cleaned before both kept embracing each other and softly kissing before falling asleep in each other's embrace.

**Meanwhile with the Paladins**

"What's everyone thinking about?" Katie asked before everyone but Hunk said Zarkon's name, with the yellow Paladin saying the name of a food that he loved, making everyone look at him.

They then began to talk about all their adventures and misadventures together while also having a few laughs before Shiro spoke seriously. "You guys realize that once we defeat Zarkon and Dark Haggar, the universe won't need Voltron anymore."

"We can return to Earth." Lance said.

"I can look for my family." Katie added.

"Maybe I can look for mine." Keith said, thinking that he could look for his family as well.

"This is it. As long as everything goes according to plan, we can't fail." Shiro said, thinking that if everything went as according to plan, the universe would finally be free of Zarkon and his evil empire.

"But... what about Allura and Haggar? Coran most likely has something planned for himself after the battle's over, but those 2 don't have anywhere to go. I know they wanna get married and all, but even if they do, they don't have a home anywhere besides the castle and they obviously can't be moving around the universe for the rest of their lives." Hunk said with concern for the Altean princesses.

"Maybe...they could live on Earth with us. They said they'd have a girl's night with me after the fight's over, so maybe we could find them a nice home on 1 of the most beautiful parts of the Earth. They'd really love that, but ultimately it's up to them what they want to do after Zarkon and Dark Haggar are destroyed. We'll just have to hope that whatever they choose to do, it'll make them happy." Katie said with a smile but still worried about Allura and Haggar, especially after the private talk she had with them in their room after being reunited after their 1st fight with Dark Haggar.

**Meanwhile on Zarkon's ship**

Thace, who had tried to retrieve the chip, was captured by Dark Haggar's druids and brought before the evil Altean clone in her lab, where Dark Haggar would unleash the 1st phase of her plan for letting Thace succeed in sabotaging Zarkon for when Voltron, the Blade of Molmora and her weak counterpart would finally reveal themselves and attempt to Zarkon and his pathetic empire for good, allowing Dark Haggar to be 1 step closer to achieving her ultimate goal of having all reality bowed at her feet.

"Now, commander Thace, let's get to work on revealing what you know. But know this: that pathetic weakling Zarkon is the least of the Blade of Molmora and Voltron's worries. The real threat to both sides...is staring you right in the face. Soon, the entire universe and eventually, all of reality...will be mine, and all who refuse to bow before their future goddess...will die." She said with the smile of an insane madwoman.

**There you go, my friends, the Staying Alive chapter is complete. Next will be the Best Laid Plans and Blackout episodes, with a few changes added to it. Rate and review. See you next chapter, my good friends.**


	13. Best Laid Plans and Blackout

**Best Laid Plans and Blackout**

On Okarion, the Teludav was finally completed. Team Voltron had one last meeting together with Queen Ryner, the other Olkari and with The blade of Marmora. Now with everything set, everyone was now ready for the final fight to destroy Zarkon and Dark Haggar, once and for all.

"Thank you, Queen Ryner, for all you and the Olkari have done to assist us." Allura said to Queen Ryner, thanking her and her people for helping them build the giant teludav to lure Zarkon and Dark Haggar into a trap. Allura then said to all the Olkari who were present. "Once we've defeated Zarkon and Dark Haggar, it is my hope that we can continue to unite our forces and rebuild the once great coalition that my father, King Alfor, began." All the Olkari cheered, as they felt confident that Team Voltron and the Blade of Marmora would be successful in defeating Zarkon.

Haggar held her lover's hand and said to her. "Allura, it's time." Allura nodded and went together with her darling Princess and the others back on board the castle.

The Paladins, meanwhile, used their Lions to get the giant Teludav into space. Shiro briefed everyone to get into position. "Everyone, lock into position. We're taking this thing up." Once all the Lions had grabbed onto the Teludav, Shiro contacted Allura. "Princess, we are go for launch."

Allura nodded as Haggar then activated the engines "Charging main turbine." She said before the castle then lifted up, and the Lions lifted up the Teludav into space.

**Meanwhile on Zarkon's flagship**

Thace was still being tortured by two druids of Dark Haggar, to know who else he was working with. "Commander Thace, you have sent encrypted messages to outside forces. Of this, we are keenly aware." one Druid told, as then the other spoke, while smirking behind his hood.

"Encryptions can be broken, just like you". The druid activated the electricity so high, it sent great pain to Thace.

"AAAAAAAAAARGH!"

When it stopped, the druid said that they knew that Thace was the traitor. "It was you who destroyed the sentries and powered down the solar barrier. You allowed Voltron to escape, with our 'former' high priestess. You betrayed Zarkon! Who else is part of this conspiracy?"

But Thace stayed silent, making the druids to continue their torture.

**Back with team Voltron and the Blade of Marmora**

Shiro and Haggar briefed the others in of what the plan was. Shiro was the first to speak "All right, guys, listen up. I'll use the Black Lion to lure Zarkon's fleet to our current location and make sure he's within the teludav's area of effect."

Then Haggar told further. "Now remember, keeping the teludav hidden behind the space-fold until the last crucial click is essential. We can count on you, right, Slav?" Haggar asked the scientist Slav, who nodded.

"Absolutely. I'll be fine" Slav then was unsure and said. "I'm not sure about the gravity generator, though."

That made Hunk very worried. "What? What was that last thing?"

Slav thought about it and said. "Hidding a ship is one thing, but I've never had to build a gravity generator for something this large before. I know it'll work, but I'm not really sure for how long."

"Well, that's a risk we'll have to take" Shiro said, as they had no choice but to take that chance.

Haggar nodded and then said. "Once Zarkon's ship is in position, Kolivan and Antok will coordinate with Thace. Together, they'll take down Zarkon's security system and then Katie will upload the virus."

Katie smiled as she commented "And then, he'll be a sitting du-flax." Nobody, but only the Altean's knew what Katie was talking about before the tree paladin explained. "What? A du-flux is an Altean creature with a beak and webbed feet."

Coran made a ridiculous move as he told them what will happen after the virus has been uploaded. "We'll wormhole Zarkon and Dark Haggar 500 million light years away, and he'll be in the Yggiz Galaxy before he knows what's hit him!"

Both Allura and Haggar rolled their eyes as this dance move of Coran was unnecessary, but was a bit funny and gave them a small smile.

Shiro then asked Kolivan if Thace was already in position. "What about Thace?"

"He should be getting into position now. We received his last communication three quintants ago. We should hear from him soon" Kolivan explained that Thace let them know that he was getting in position. But what Kolivan didn't know is that Thace sent that last message, before he was captured.

Shiro nodded and said. "Let's do it." As everyone was getting ready in the castle, Shiro flew with his Black Lion out to get into position and lure Zarkon and Dark Haggar to him.

**Back on Zarkon's flagship**

Dark Haggar looked upon Zarkon, who was still using dark magic of the druids to locate the Black Lion. As she commanded the druids to stop with a wave of her arms, they did so, making Zarkon fall on his knees. He grunted very angry. "Why do you disturb me?" He demanded, wanting to know why he was disturbed.

Dark Haggar pretended that she felt sorry for disturbing her 'master' "My apologies, sire. I fear your singular focus has-"

"Has what?" Zarkon asked fiercely to his High Priestess.

She bowed, knowing that if Zarkon turned his anger on her, her ultimate goal would never be accomplished. "I've... overstepped my bounds. We've apprehended a spy within our ranks. He plans something with an outside force. I suspect an attack is imminent."

Zarkon was not in the mood for being disturbed about this and said. "Let your druids find out what he knows. You will stay here. The only thing that matters to me is getting the Black Lion. I need the power you possess to search the galaxy."

Dark Haggar obeyed, but mentally said with an evil smirk. _'Mark my words, you pathetic weakling, your obsession will be your downfall, and then I will personally crush the life out of you and all of my enemies!'_

As Dark Haggar and her druids restarted the ritual, Zarkon focused hard to find the Black Lion. But then, all of the sudden, he spotted it...out in the open. Zarkon gasped as he fell on his knees again and panted as he evilly smirked. "I have found the Lion." Before he opened a comm link immediately and ordered his commander on the bridge. "Get the fleet into hyper drive! I know where the Black Lion is."

The commander nodded. "Yes, my lord. Setting course now."

**Back with Team Voltron on the castle**

Everybody had been waiting for any update from Shiro, if Zarkon had taken the bait. Then Shiro appeared on the screen telling them all. "Zarkon took the bait. He's got my location. Is everybody in position?" He asked, wanting to know if everybody was in position for the trap.

"We've not yet heard from Thace." Kolivan answered. "He was supposed to contact us 2 vargas ago."

"He could've been captured." Antok suggested, thinking that Thace had more than likely captured.

"Or killed." Kolivan added. "We need to abort the mission immediately."

"Abort?" Allura asked, shocked that Kolivan suggested that.

Haggar was completely against this. "No! We cannot back away now!"

"The Blade of Marmora does not take chances. It's how we've survived for so long." Antok said, informing the Altean princesses how their group was able to survive for that long by not taking any chances like this.

Haggar shook her head in anger. "It's held you back. Your caution is the reason Zarkon is still in power!"

Koliven sighed and calmly explained. "We would rather wait than jeopardize everything. Besides, it's too late to get someone else on the inside."

Keith then stood up and said. "I'll do it."

"What?" Allura asked, shocked that Keith volunteered himself to go into Zarkon's ship.

"I'll sneak onto Zarkon's ship. I'm half Galra, so I'll be able to interact with their technology." Keith then looked at Pidge/Katie. "Pidge, you can rig up one of those pods with a cloaking device, right?"

"Well, yeah."

Haggar tried to tell Keith that it was too risky. "No, Keith! That's a suicide mission. You'll be dead before you'll even get near the security systems."

Kolivan agreed with Haggar. "I agree with Princess Haggar. I would also never command someone so inexperienced to go on a mission so dangerous."

But Keith stayed confident "No one's commanding me. I'm doing it."

Shiro had heard the entire conversation. Seeing no other alternative, he agreed to Keith's plan. "Pidge, get that pod ready. And Keith... let me know when you're on your way. I'll give you cover."

After a few minutes, Katie had prepared the clocking device for Keith's pod before Allura and Haggar entered the hanger. "Katie, may we have a moment with Keith, please?" The Altean princess asked.

"Sure." Katie answered before touching her Altean friends' hands and leaving the hanger.

Allura and Haggar walked up to Keith and spoke to him. "Listen Keith, I admit that I... didn't know how to feel about you being part Galra at 1st. But my Haggar brought me back to my senses, by reminding me that I took a huge gamble in bringing her with us when we were reunited again. Before you got into that fight with Lance, I was going to apologise for treating you like that."

"Thanks Allura." Keith said before they hugged shortly.

"But, given your reputation as a "loose cannon" as you humans say, you're bound to do something that will endanger the team. I want you to know that if you do anything that will put this team in danger, especially my Allura and Katie, I'll make you wish you'd never been born. Understand?" Haggar asked while getting in the red Paladin's face and making him sweat a bit.

"U-understood." Keith said nervously before the princesses left and Keith got into his pod and headed for Zarkon's ship.

When Zarkon's fleet appeared out of hyperspace, Shiro was taking them on, destroying some of the ship with the Lion's mouth blades, making Zarkon order the Galra fighters to attack the Black Lion to draw it into position. But Shiro was really giving Keith cover to enter Zarkon's ship, which was successful as the red Paladin had entered the ship and was heading to the center hub of the ship, following Thace's schematics.

While this was, Thace was still being tortured by Dark Haggar's druids, who used their power to throw his blade at him threateningly until they decided to leave the room, allowing the Blade of Molmora agent to escape. But unknown to him, he was secretly being watched by the security cameras in the ship by the same druids.

Meanwhile, outside of the ship, as Slav was getting the Teludav ready, Shiro was still taking on Zarkon's fleet but was having difficulty with them all on his own... until Katie and the other Paladins came to help their leader. With the 3 Paladins helping him, it was a bit easier now... until Allura and Haggar informed them that Zarkon's ship was moving out of position of the Teludav, forcing them to draw it back!

**Meanwhile with Zarkon**

"Flank the Black Lion! Surround him!" Zarkon ordered his troops, wanting control of the Black Lion at all costs.

Dark Haggar could sense that this was most likely a trap and warned Zarkon. "Sire, I fear this could be a trap!"

But Zarkon didn't listen and ordered Dark Haggar to give him more power. "Get me more power. I must connect to the Black Lion!"

Dark Haggar and the druids did so, but the evil High Priestess was getting impatientand sick of being ordered around by this worthless weakling._ 'Damn it, Zarkon! Mark my words, you will be the 1st being I kill!'_

**Meanwhile, in the central hub**

Keith had just entered the hub and was about to put in the code but he hid himself as he heard someone coming, which turned out to be Thace, who put in the code himself before the 2 druids entered the room and told the agent that they had already changed the code. They tried to attack him but Keith came out of his hiding place and threw his blade into 1 of the druids, killing him before he and Thace worked together to fight the other 1 and eventually killed him, too. After introducing themselves, Thace was using the power to turn the hub into a bomb.

**Back in Zarkon's chamber**

A druid was telling Dark Haggar that Thace had barricaded himself in the central hub. "Dark Haggar. Thace has barricaded himself in the central hub. We believe he's trying to shut down the system."

Dark Haggar stopped the ritual and said with anger at Zarkon. "He's working with the Paladins. I told you that this was a trap!"

Zarkon panted as he then ordered. "Get the spy. I will end this firefight... myself!" Zarkon said, having enough and wanting to finish the Paladins himself.

**Meanwhile**

Slav contacted Allura on the castle, telling her that the gravity generator has lost all power! "The gravity generator just lost power! Now there's no reality where we all get out alive!" The scientist said, very panicky.

With the gravity generator down, the giant teludav got uncloaked, making it for Zarkon and the entire Galra fleet to see. Haggar gasped. "Allura, the teludav is completely exposed."

Shiro saw it from his Lion and prayed that Keith did what was needed to shut the security systems of Zarkon's ship now. "Come on, Keith."

As this was happening, Slav tried all he could to keep the gravity generator on, or the Teludav would uncloak. And inside the ship, As Dark Haggar reluctantly did as Zarkon said and was using her dark Magic to force the door open, Keith blocked it by shooting down a pillar on the entrance, sealing it. Thace then told Keith to escape, as he was willing to sacrifice himself, much to the red Paladin's sadness before he did so as Thace held off the Galra soldiers for as long as he could.

**In Zarkon's chamber**

The evil emperor recognized that device and knew that it could not be allowed to activate."CHARGE THE IRON CANNON! TAKE THAT DEVICE DOWN!" He ordered.

**Meanwhile**

Allura knew they had no time left. "We cannot wait any longer. Haggar, we need to charge the teludav now!" Haggar nodded and both her and Allura focused hard to activate the giant teludav.

Thace tried all he could to keep the Galra forces back, as the power generator overloaded to explode. Thace smiled and closed his eyes, knowing that it wasn't in vain.

Dark Haggar saw that the generator was going to explode and frowned fiercely as she created an energy shield around her just in time. "DAMN YOU!"

Keith made it out just in time, before being caught in the explosion and floated into outer space. The Red Lion sensed Keith was in danger and flyed out of the Castle's hanger with speed, to rescue his Paladin.

**On the ship/castle**

Kolivan saw on his screen that Zarkon's security systems were down thanks to that explosion. "The system is down! Katie, upload the virus, now!" Kolivan contacted the Green Paladin to upload the virus now.

_"Right away!"_ Katie said before she did just that and sendt the computer virus to Zarkon's ship, shutting down any remaining systems and the entire fleet.

**Meanwhile**

Zarkon screamed in anger as he and his fleet were now completely exposed and venerable to attack. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

**With Keith**

Keith watches from a distance how Thace sacrifice was not in vain. "Thace did it." He said with a smile before his Red Lion appeared to rescue him.

Dark Haggar appeared from her energy shield, looking at the destroyed central hub. The evil counterpart was now more angry then she was ever before. "Damn you, Paladins. DAMN YOU ALL!"

Allura and Haggar brought the Teludav above Zarkon's ship and activated the wormhole, sending Zarkon's ship to the designated location and destroying the rest of the Galra ships and fighters. As the Altean Princesses were successful, both fell on their knees, but holding each other close. Using their powers together had done the almost impossible. Coran then released the Teludav and headed towards the giant wormhole. "Everyone, hang on! Here we go!" Before he then called to the Paladins to enter the wormhole as well. "Hurry Paladins! We must make it in before the wormhole closes!"

When the Paladins flew with their Lions behind the Castle and entered the wormhole, Shiro contacted the castle, to see if Allura and Haggar were okay. "Allura, Haggar, are you both okay."

Haggar nodded and answered. "We're a bit weak, but okay."

Shiro nodded and ensured the two Princesses. "Look after yourselves. We got it from here."

Allura nodded and wished them best of luck against Zarkon and Dark Haggar. "Go get them, Paladins."

Zarkon's ship exited the wormhole, being brought to the Yggiz Galaxy. The Paladins, with their Lions, followed. Katie was overwhelmed as she hardly could believe that their plan had worked. "We did it! I can't believe we did it!"

Slav then appeared on her screen, saying. "See, I told you we could do it."

But Shiro knew that the fight was far from over yet. "It's not over yet. Everyone, form Voltron!"

After forming Voltron, Shiro told them there was little time to lose. "We've gotta act fast. the power will only be down for 20 minutes." He said before he then showed his team where to hit Zarkon's ship. "The Blade of Marmora's schematics showed four targets we need to hit: The weapons systems, the engines, the bridge, and the shield generators. Now, let's put an end to Zarkon and Dark Haggar, once and for all."

"Yeah!" All the other Paladins yelled simultaneously.

"Form sword!" Shiro said before Voltron formed it's sword, starting to attack Zarkon's flagship.

**Meanwhile, inside Zarkon's ship**

The furious emperor ordered all sectors to power back on. "I want weapons systems activated immediately! Restart the entire crystal core manually if you have to!"

But despite his minions doing their best, Voltron was slowly destroying Zarkon's ship. Dark Haggar then suggested. "Sire. Our ship may be without power, but me and my druids are not." Before forming an evil smirk. "I can use the komar to draw the quintessence directly from Voltron, rendering him lifeless."

But even though it was a brilliant strategy, it fell into deaf ears to Zarkon. He started to walk out of the bridge while saying. "It is time I face Voltron myself."

At this point, Dark Haggar had lost all her patience with this weak fool and finally spoke her mind. "WHAT?! HOW DARE YOU, YOU PATHETIC WEAKLING!? THIS IS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO FINALLY DESTROY VOLTRON, AND YOU JUST LEAVE IT SO YOU CAN RECLAIM THAT DAMN BLACK LION!? YOU'RE OBSESSION WITH THE BLACK LION IS CLOUDING WHATEVER IS LEFT OF YOUR WORTHLESS JUDGEMENT! MARK MY WORDS, YOU USELESS, PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR AN EMPEROR: VOLTRON KILLING YOU WILL BE THE LAST THING YOU EVER SEE!"

Zarkon didn't like to be spoken to like that by anyone, especially his creation. He wanted to make her suffer for her insolence but the Galran emperor kept walking while mentally saying. _'Once I've reclaimed the Black Lion, I'm going to make sure that you learn your place while making you suffer for your insolence, Dark Haggar!'_

Dark Haggar was furious as she turned around, wanting to start the ritual anyway. _'Damn it all! That bastard is ruining my plans! But no matter. Soon, I will crush him like the insect he is, along with Voltron and especially my weak counterpart!_ the evil counterpart yelled mentally to herself.

**Meanwhile, outside of the ship**

"Hit the engine systems!" Shiro yelled as Voltron used its blade to destroy the engine systems of Zarkon's ship.

The Altean Princesses, who were a bit recovered, looked from the castle at how the Paladins were slowly destroying Zarkon's ship. Allura gave a little smile. "We've done it, my darling Princess. This is the end of Zarkon's reign."

Haggar nodded as she held Allura close to her. "Yes, my dear Allura. This is it."

**Meanwhile with Zarkon**

The Galra emperor entered a room that had giant fighting armor built by a few Galra soldiers. But it had never been tested before. But Zarkon knew that desperate times called for desperate measures. "Prepare my armor." He ordered.

"But lord, it has not been-" 1 soldier tried to protest, only to get knocked into a wall by Zarkon, making the others do as they were told. Once the armor was prepared, Zarkon got in it and activated its systems, ready to use this armor to take back what was his.

**Meanwhile**

Dark Haggar stood ready with her druids to use her ultimate power to destroy Voltron and Zarkon. "Begin the ritual!"

**Meanwhile outside the ship**

As the Paladins had destroyed the engines, Shiro then told his team what to do next. "Stay focused. We've neutralized the engines. Let's target the bridge." But when Voltron was getting closer, Dark Haggar was giving her most evil smirk, as she could feel that this was the end of Voltron, and her first step towards ultimate power.

Behind Voltron, a large red-black orb appeared. "What is that?" Lance asked as he thought that all the weapons systems were off.

From the castle, Kolivan's eyes went wide as he saw that Voltron was in total shooting range of that dark orb. "Oh, no..."

Haggar was shocked at what she saw and tried to warn the Paladins. "PALADINS, GET OUT OF THERE!"

Dark Haggar evilly laughed as she was about to destroy Voltron. "Now, DIEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

The orb fired a large black-red energy beam at Voltron, horrifying the Altean princesses. "NO!" Allura and Haggar yelled as the energy beam hit Volron, drawing all the quintessence out of it.

Dark Haggar could feel this enormous energy. "Yes! It's pure quintessence!"

As Voltron was knocked out completely, Coran tried to contact them. "Paladins! Can you hear me?" But nothing came but static.

Haggar tried it again "Paladins!" But still no response. "KATIE!" She yelled as tears came from her eyes at the thought of losing the 1 who was like a sister to her and Allura.

Coran couldn't understand how this could have happened and asked Kolivan. "I thought the virus shut down all of Zarkon's power.

Allura, while feeling the same pain as Haggar for possibly losing Katie, asked her lover "Haggar...are they...?"

As Haggar used her senses, she felt they were still alive. "They're alive."

Both Coran and Allura felt relieved at that. "Thank the ancients." Coran said with relief.

While Haggar tried to contact the Paladins, Allura thought about the weapon Zarkon's ship used. "That blast... was not from the ship's weapons. It was magic."

Kolivan nodded, knowing that was most likely the case. "It must have been the komar."

Haggar turned herself to the others and explained. "Zarkon had been working on a prototype for a device to extract the quintessence from planets. It appears... he succeeded. But... it couldn't have been completed without me." Then her mind knew that her evil clone had finished the project. "Dark Haggar." She said with disgust. "She must have completed it." Before she tried to contact the Paladins again. "Paladins! Shiro! Can you hear me?"

They heard some static first, but then they heard Shiro's voice. "Yes, Haggar. We're alive."

"Is Voltron operational?" Allura asked the Paladins, especially Katie.

Hunk tried first, but his Lion didn't respond."It's not working."

"I can't move my Lion." Keith said as well.

Haggar then told them what had hit them. "You have been hit by some device made of dark magic, that drew all the quintessence out of you. You need to get out of there! Another blast like that and you may not survive!"

But just then, Lance noticed something coming out of Zarkon's ship. "Wait. What's that?"

To everyone's shock, it was giant fighting armor similar to Voltron but in Zarkon's image. "It's Zarkon." Shiro answered, having felt him inside the armor.

"Everyone, remember your training, the battles you've been through! It can't end this way." Allura advised her Paladins with courage.

"Allura is right, I have seen you all fight and have been surprised by your will and determination to save this universe, both when I was Zarkon's high priestess and now as your ally and friend. You're all true Paladins now, especially you, Katie. Fight to save your home planet and everyone on it, along with every world in the universe! Don't let Zarkon take from you what he took from Allura, myself and Coran! I beg all of you... to not let Zarkon win!" Haggar added after her lover.

Allura then ordered Coran to move the castle to buy the Paladins more time, despite his protest, but he did so, knowing that it was now the only way. As Allura fired a large beam from the Castle on Zarkon, he tried to deflect it back at them. Haggar saw what Zarkon was doing and tried to use her magic to create a shield around the Castle. Allura and Haggar gasped and screamed as the beam hit the castle dead on but Haggar's shield held some power back, but not all of it!

Shiro and the other Paladins looked on with shock as the Castle was nearly destroyed. "Allura! Haggar!"

"NO!" Katie yelled, as she was watching her Altean friends and sister like figures die most likely, right in front of her.

After a few more seconds, Shiro spoke to his team. "Everyone, we have to do as Allura and Haggar said. Focus on bringing back Voltron, visalalize 5 becoming 1. We are the last hope of ending Zarkon and Dark Haggar and their domination of the universe! I'm not giving up that fight, are you, Hunk?"

"No." Hunk answered, bringing his Lion to life again.

"Keith?"

"Never." Keith answered before his Lion did the same.

"Lance?"

"Let's go down swinging." Lance said before his Lion activated again.

"Pidge?"

"Never. For Allura and Haggar!" Katie said with courage, wanting to fight to the end for Allura and Haggar as her Lion activated.

"Then let's get Voltron back in this battle." Shiro said before his Lion activated, fully bringing back Voltron before forming its sword, ready to battle Zarkon.

Zarkon saw this and formed a sword of his own. "Now I will take back what is rightfully mine!" He vowed before the 2 charged at each other and began to fight. The battle was evenly matched as Voltron fought bravely, shooting Zarkon's armor with its guns and the shoulder Cannon but the wings on Zarkon's armor protected him from damage. The Paladins were slowly losing but Shiro told his team to dig deep inside themselves and fight on.

Haggar saw this as the perfect opportunity to finally kill Zarkon and Voltron for good. "SUMMON THE ENERGY AGAIN! TARGET BOTH OF THEM!"

Just as Dark Haggar tried to summon the same power again, Allura slowly awoke and the 1st thing that came to her mind was her lover. She saw her floating as the gravity was shut down before she got to Haggar and held her close. "Haggar? Are you all right?"

Haggar groaned as she opened her eyes. "I'm... fine. How badly is the Castle damaged?"

Just then, Coran awoke and checked the systems on the monitor. "Our power levels are decimated. Communications aren't working. We can't reach the Paladins. I'm afraid we can't fight anymore."

At that moment, Slav entered the bridge and asked. "Did we win yet?"

Haggar knew that if she won't defeat her evil clone, the Paladins and themselves are done for. "Coran, you and Slav do what you can to get the Castle functioning again. I'm going after Dark Haggar, to stop her from using that dark device again."

Allura wouldn't let her lover fight Dark Haggar all by herself. "Haggar, wait! I'm coming with you."

But Haggar was immediately against this. "No, Allura! Dark Haggar will destroy you for sure! I'm not gonna let that happen."

But Allura held her cheeks and said. "Haggar. I don't care if we're going to make it through this or not. All I care about is...that I'll be at your side. I'm going with you."

Then Kolivan said. "I'm coming too, Princess Haggar."

"And me as well." Antok said.

Coran tried to stop them "No! You're both weakened by operating the teludav. You both will be killed by that evil witch for sure!"

"Coran!" Haggar said with a serious tone. "It's the only way."

Allura, Haggar, Kolivan and Antok went to another part of the ship and launched themselves into space, heading to the komar on Zarkon's ship. Haggar didn't wear her spacesuit, but instead used her power to survive in space, as her eyes glowed white, which made Allura smile lovingly at her as they took each other's hand.

Dark Haggar was so distracted with powering up the device on the komar, that she hadn't noticed the Altean Princesses, nor the Blade of Marmora agents entering the komar.

As Allura, Kolive and Antok fought the druids, Haggar faced her evil clone, with both sorceresses' magic growing as they powered up. White energy surrounded Haggar, while Black-red energy surrounding Dark Haggar before both charged at each other head on! Their battle created a massive earthquake on the whole ship, as their energy was far greater than anything in the universe, maybe even that of Voltron.

The battle between Zarkon and Voltron continued, as explosions were coming out of Zarkon's ship. But the destruction of his ship didn't matter, all he wanted was to reclaim the Black Lion again. "This is my chance to reclaim the Black Lion. Nothing can stop me now!" He said as he tried to connect with the Black Lion, despite Shiro trying to fight him off. Voltron tried to stab Zarkon's armor but he deflected the attack and used his arm energy chain to shock Voltron into seperating into the 5 Lions! "You should have fled like the ones before you. Now the time of the Voltron Paladins is finished."

The other Paladins saw that Shiro was knocked out so they defended him and the Black Lion with everything they had before the Black Paladin awoke and saw that the Lion open something beside him that looked like a Bayard holder. As Shiro saw his team being overwhelmed, he concentrated like he'd never had before and used the bond he had with the Black Lion to charge at Zarkon as he came for him. When they collided, Shiro was shocked to see Zarkon's Bayard...in his hands before the Paladins then reformed Voltron!

**Meanwhile inside Zarkon's ship**

The sharing energy beams and energy blasts from the two Altean sorceresses nearly shattered the entire komar. With one more blast, Haggar was pushed back to a wall.

Allura and Kolivan knocked out one of the druids. But just as Antok was about to finish the other, Dark Haggar fired an energy beam on him, disarming him by cutting off his arm!

"AAAAAAAARGH!" Antok yelled as he lost a limb. Then the druid finished Antok, with an energy blast directly to his heart, killing him!

"Antok!" Kolivan yelled.

Seeing Antok die, made Haggar even more angry and pushed her evil clone so far back with her, until they were fighting in space, again! Eventually, Haggar held Dark Haggar by the neck, more angry than she'd ever been before. "DARK HAGGAR, MY EVIL COUNTERPART, I WILL NEVER LET YOU DESTROY ANOTHER INNOCENT WORLD OR ALL THAT I LOVE!" The purple skinned princess vowed as her eyes glowed the brightest white before she used a new power: by deflecting a large energy beam from Dark Haggar back at her and using a beam so powerful as a supernova, sending a shocked Dark Haggar all the way back into Zarkon's ship, knocking her out cold

Allura and Kolivan saw this and flew back to the Castle, while Haggar joined the Paladins in fighting Zarkon. While this was happening, the power on Zarkon's ship turned back on, but had a lot of serious blows because of Voltron, and Haggar and Dark Haggar's fight.

Haggar and Voltron then used their combined powers to deliver the finishing blow on Zarkon. "This is our last chance! Let's finish this!" Shiro yelled for the final attack before all the Paladins and Haggar used all they had to finally finish Zarkon, stabbing his armor and pushing it further in until it exploded in a flash of purple light! When it died down, the Lions were again seperated and Haggar was holding onto the Green Lion as it and almost all the other Lions got back up. When the other Paladins saw this, they towed the Black Lion back onto the ship/castle before Allura created a wormhole and went through it before it closed.

When they were all safe, they went to check on Shiro, but when the Black Lion door opened, only Zarkon's Bayard remained, shocking everyone. "Haggar, what happened?" Katie asked with concern.

"I don't know, Katie. I truly don't know." Haggar answered honestly.

**Meanwhile with Zarkon's fleet**

The evil Galra emperor was revealed to be still alive but was now in a coma, strapped to a medical machine as Dark Haggar gave an evil grin. "Now my plan finally begins." She said before leaving the room and facing the Galra Commanders waiting outside. "Summon Prince Lotor." She ordered them with a smirk, knowing her plan to rule all reality had finally begun.

**There you go, my friends, season 2 of Voltron is finally complete. I'm going to start a Yu-Gi-Oh story next with Mai and Tea as the main couple. Hope you're all looking forward to seeing it. Season 3 will start soon. Rate and review. See you all soon, my friends.**


	14. New Leaders and a Punishable mistake

**Changing of the Guard, Red Paladin and the Hunted**

After the heated battle against Zarkon and Dark Haggar...Keith was searching for Shiro after he mysteriously vanished after the Paladins and their allies had crippled Zarkon and Dark Haggar's mothership and ultimate weapon. The Red Paladin was in constant contact with Coran, asking his friend. "Coran, have you picked up anything on the castle's radars?"

Allura's faithful servant and advisor stated over the intercom system. "Sorry Keith, but the radars aren't picking up anything. I'm also afraid to request that you return to the castle to refuel the Red Lion. Your energy levels are dangerously low. If you stay out there any longer, the odds of you making it back to the ship will be slim."

Knowing that his friend was right...Keith muttered softly before turning his Lion back to the castle. "I won't stop looking for you, Shiro."

**Meanwhile, inside Allura and Haggar's bedroom**

The Altean princesses and future wife and wife, were resting peacefully in their underwear under the covers of their bed before hearing a knocking on their closed bedroom door. Allura asked softly with her lover slowly waking up after her. "Yes?"

Coran answered softly from outside his princess' bedroom...as he had a good idea that Allura and Haggar weren't decent quite yet. "I apologize for disturbing you and Haggar, Allura...but, I'm afraid that I have unfortunate news. There's still been no sign of Shiro and Keith is on his way back to the castle."

After hearing how there still had been no sign of Shiro, Allura said with a frown, alongside her lover. "Thank you for letting me and Haggar know Coran. We'll meet you after we're dressed for the upcoming meeting."

After Coran had stepped away from their closed bedroom, Haggar stated while turning to her beloved. "We'll find Shiro, my love. I'll do everything in my power to help find him."

Allura stated with a warm smile, as she appreciated her lover volunteering to help to locate Shiro. "Thank you, my darling princess. I deeply appreciate you volunteering to help locate Shiro. We really need to find him. The team has barely been holding on ever since we defeated Zarkon and Dark Haggar."

Her lover nodded in agreement, especially since there had been a huge friction created between the team after Shiro's disappearance: Lance had continued being distant towards Keith, which had also created a gap in his friendship with Hunk, as he was growing rather annoyed with the Blue Paladin's attitude towards the Red Paladin and Katie had buried herself into computer work, in order to avoid being dragged into taking sides while also looking for her lost family, which both princesses sympathized with and had even offered to help her. Haggar then stated while holding her Allura's hands in her own. "He's still alive and we'll find him, Allura."

Allura and Haggar then locked lips in a loving kiss and after her princess' back was turned...Haggar playfully smacked her appealing ass, which earned a playful 'eek' from her lover. "Oh I can't wait to get you back in bed tonight, my sweet princess."

After a few minutes, Coran entered Allura and Haggar's bedchamber, seeing both Altean princesses in their dresses, to look presentable to the Cubserion delegation. He looked a bit surprised to see Allura smelling her dress.

When Allura saw Coran, she explained. "I'm worried it smells a bit musty. It's been a while since I've had to look presentable."

Haggar shrugged as she hadn't worn a dress this nice in over 10.000 years. "I feel the same way, Allura. I haven't worn a dress like this before in over 10.000 years."

Coran joined them and said. "The Cubserions just declared independence after a thousand years of oppression, so they probably won't notice."

Allura looked at herself again in the mirror, saying worriedly. "Then why am I getting all puffed up like a Trufalian meringue? This is going to be a serious diplomatic meeting?"

Haggar looked at herself in the mirror too, while Allura put Haggar's hair more nicely for her. Haggar sighed deeply. "I just hope they'll see the truth that I'm no longer under Zarkon's control and no longer his high priestess."

Coran ensured the princesses while saying. "Remember, Princesses, 70 percent of diplomacy is appearance. Then 29 percent is manners, decorum, formalities and chit-chat. It's really only one percent..."

Haggar finished Coran's sentence by saying. "Serious business about fighting for the freedom of the universe?"

Coran nodded. "Yes. That. Oh, and I forgot hors d'oeuvres. Oh, that's at least two percent. So I'll have to recalculate my..."

Allura then truthfully said her worries. "We just freed these planets. Do you really think they're ready to come together to fight the Galra?"

"I don't think it's a question of wanting to fight back, but of believing that it's possible. It's up to you two to give them that faith." Coran said honestly to the two princesses.

Haggar looked back in the mirror, looking sad. It had been weeks since Shiro went missing. And without the Black Paladin to control the Black Lion, the others could not form Voltron anymore. "It should be Voltron that gives them that faith."

Allura shared her sadness with her lover and held her hand while softly rubbing it. Coran then tried to tell them that they cannot always put the fate of the universe on Voltron. "We can't always put the fate of the universe in the hands of a giant weapon. At least, that's what your father believed, Allura."

When Coran saw that the two princesses needed some alone time, he excused himself and left their bedchamber. Through their mental link, both Allura and Haggar knew that they could not win this war against the Galra if they could not form Voltron, despite the fact that Haggar's powers were equal to the legendary defender.

Allura put her arms around Haggar's waist as she sighed while holding her hands on her chest. She nodded and knew that Allura was right. "You're right, my love. We need to face the fact that... Shiro might never come back. We need to think about finding a new pilot for the Black Lion."

**Meanwhile on the planet Puig**

Lance and Hunk were assisting Kolivan and the Blades of Marmora in fighting against a fleet of Galran sentries attacking the locals...even though they couldn't assemble Voltron due to Shiro's disappearance. But even though it was a tough battle, they were successful in driving the Galra forces off the planet. The people of Puig thanked them but we're still uneasy about having the Blade of Molmora with them. They then wanted to know where Voltron was, as the natives had heard of its victory over Zarkon and Dark Haggar, but Hunk and Lance couldn't answer them.

Meanwhile, from inside her personal room on the ship...Katie was going over the video recording of herself, with her father and brother before they were attacked by one of Zarkon's cruisers and would state softly. "I know you're somewhere out there, Matt. I'll find you and Dad...no matter how long it takes me. I'll find you both." Before Allura and Haggar walked in and gave her a hug, as they had heard her words.

"We know you'll find them someday, Katie. We promise you that you'll be reunited with your father and brother." Allura said before giving Katie a kiss on her forehead.

"And I promise that I'll do everything in my power to help you, Katie. But you must remember that you can't obsess over this. It'll take its toll on you and you'll end up losing who you are." Haggar added after her lover.

"Then... I'll count on you 2 to make sure that doesn't happen to me." Katie said with pleading eyes, making both altean princesses hug her and kiss her forehead as a promise that they would.

After the Blue and Yellow Paladins had returned to the castle from Puig, they joined Keith and Coran in the living room...with the Blue and Red Paladins ignoring each other due to Coran and Hunk's help. Hunk asked while looking directly at his friend and teammate. "Any luck, Keith?"

Keith answered truthfully. "Not a sign of him, Hunk. I searched the entire area of where we battled Zarkon and Dark Haggar...and I didn't find anything that could help us find Shiro."

Hunk asked softly. "Do you guys think he's still alive?"

Keith answered plain and simple. "He's alive Hunk...and I'll find him."

Lance simply scoffed and muttered softly. "Good luck with that."

The Red Paladin stated while glaring, as he heard that remark. "Got something you want to say, Mr. Ass Clown?"

The Blue Paladin snarled angrily at the name Keith had just called him. "What did you just call me, hybrid freak?"

Hunk stated while defending the Red Paladin. "Would you like him to spell it out for you...Captain Idiot?"

But before any more insults could be made, Haggar, Allura and Katie entered the living quarters and the princesses demanded while Katie went to sit down. "What is going on here?!"

Hunk answered truthfully while scoffing. "Lance is getting into it with Keith again."

Coran added after the Yellow Paladin. "We were just discussing if Shiro could still be alive. Keith said he would find him...and that was when Lance decided to be an idiot and insult Keith, since he hasn't had much luck yet."

After learning what the bickering was about, Allura and Haggar had angrily turned to look at Lance, who simply stated while defending his actions. "I didn't mean to insult Keith...I was just saying that he shouldn't get his, Hunk's and Pidge's hopes up. We've been searching for Shiro for days and there's been no sign of him, anywhere. Not even our allies have seen him."

After allowing the Blue Paladin to explain his actions, which saved him from a serious 'talk' with Haggar, Allura took a deep breath before saying. "While I do not condone how Lance handled the subject...I'm afraid that we should consider the worst scenario."

Katie stated softly. "Allura...please, no."

Her princess and friend stated softly. "Katie..I'm sorry. But we should consider the possibility that Shiro may be dead...and that we should consider looking for...a replacement Paladin to pilot the..."

But she was cut off by Keith shouting while he got in her face. "Don't you dare finish that sentence, Allura!"

Hunk stated, surprised by the Red Paladin's surprising burst of anger. "Hey Keith, take it easy."

But Keith shouted before storming out of the living room. "No Hunk! Shiro is alive! The rest of you may have given up on him, but I won't! He never gave up on me when I first discovered that I was half human/half Galran and I'll never give up on him! You guys want to give up searching for him? Fine. But I'm going to find him!"

But while everyone stared with surprise, Haggar looked very angry at Keith for yelling at her sweet princess. _"I swear, if that fool yells at you to your beautiful face like that again, my sweet princess, I don't care if he is a paladin of Voltron or if Shiro was his friend. I'll make him wish that he'd never have been born!" _She told Allura through their mental link.

**Meanwhile, in the Galra mothership**

Zarkon, who was still comatose, was laying on a bed, his eyes closed as Dark Haggar stood across the room and watched over his body with a dark smirk on her face. "I told you that your obsession with the Black Lion would lead to your undoing, you pathetic weakling excuse for an emperor. Now, with you out of the way, your son will be my pawn to take over this empire... and eventually, all of reality. So, say goodbye to everything you've worked for, Zarkon. This universe is mine!" She said with insanity before she left the room, and spoke to a druid, who along with the rest, had pledged their loyalty to her now that Zarkon was out of the way. "No one is to be allowed to see that worthless weakling. Understand?"

"Understood, my goddess." He said before he walked away.

"Excuse me." A commander named Throk called out as he walked up to Dark Haggar.

"What is it, Commander Throk?"

"Would it be possible to speak to Zarkon today? Another planet was lost to rebellion and I feel he must be informed." Throk reported, wanting to inform his master of what happened today.

"Zarkon is fully briefed on all imperial matters. He certainly doesn't need your input." Dark Haggar said, while secretly lying to hide her plans for the empire.

"Of course. It is just that I fear if we do not take decisive action soon, the Empire will crumble completely. Rebel activity should be crushed with our full might before more planets are inspired to fight against us." Throk told her, fearing for the empire and what would happen if more planets fought against them.

"Lotor has arrived at headquarters at Zarkon's request to take command of the Empire. Under Zarkon's guidance, of course." Dark Haggar told him, while secretly grinning evilly, knowing that with Lotor as her figurehead, the empire and the universe would be hers eventually, after she kills all her enemies.

"Lotor? Why is he not at his father's bedside?"

"Zarkon needs no one by his bedside, least of all you!" Dark Haggar yelled out with a bit of force, not wanting anyone to see that weakling before she walked away from Throk, while unknowingly being watched by a Half-Galra looking female who had uncloaked herself and had been watching and listening a few feet away from where Throk and Dark Haggar had been standing. She smiled evilly, before clocking herself again.

**Meanwhile**

As the delegates had all taken their seats, together with the Paladins, Kolivan, Allura and Haggar, Allura welcomed the delegates while sitting close to her darling princess and Katie. "It is our honor to have you all here together."

The chief of Puig was impressed with the luxury of the castle "I had the biggest bunker back on Puig, but it wasn't nearly this nice."

The other delegate said. "Well, I spent the last decade sleeping in a spiny thistle thicket. You look wonderful though, Princess. And you too, Princess Haggar. I'm glad I put on my best tarp."

Allura smiled at his compliment as Haggar smiled as well, seeing that word about her changing sides had spread throughout the universe, and also felt relieved that the people weren't uncomfortable with it, or mistrustful of her.

Hunk then presented the delegates some small dishes from Earth for them that he prepared. "Welcome, everyone. Welcome. I've prepared a few Earth canapés for our distinguished guests to enjoy while we talk galactic diplomacy."

One of them tried a canapés and loved it. "By the ancients! This is delicious!"

Kolivan cleared his throat, as he was about to speak. "The Blade of Marmora has gathered this intelligence." Before he showed a holographic image of the universe, now still largely controlled by the Galra Empire. "As you can see, the Galra Empire is still the most massive ruling force the universe has ever seen. The sheer size of it is almost incomprehensible. It seems like it could rule for another 10.000 years."

Kolivan's words made one of the delegates shiver in fear before Lance whispered to Kate. "Not the way I would have started this pep talk, but okay."

But then, Kolivan said. "However, we are beginning to see signs of increased rebel activity from within the Empire." Before he then showed the number of star-systems that have started to rebel against the Galra, making all the delegates gasp in fascination, as seeing the number of rebel activity was years ago only a fantasy to them.

Haggar then spoke about what their strategy was. "We have a strategy to bring these forces together, free more planets, grow our numbers, and accumulate an army that can defeat the Galra in major battles."

Allura then spoke to the delegates, trying to encourage them to join them to defeat the Galra. "But without your help, it will be impossible."

A female delegate then asked in an electronic voice. "The forces will all fight behind Voltron, right?"

The others too wanted to know where Voltron was now, so the chief of Puig asked. "Yes, where is Voltron?"

Allura looked worried, as she didn't want to discourage the delegates that Voltron could not be assembled right now without Shiro, so instead she introduced the Paladins to them. "Th-the people you see before you are the Paladins of Voltron. Together, they pilot the mighty Lions that form the great warrior."

Hunk waved while having his mouth full of food. Keith held his arms crossed without looking at them. Katie nodded friendly. Lance gave a smirk, showing his charms. The chief of Puig nodded. "Excellent! Can they form Voltron now?" He asked again.

Allura didn't know how to explain it. "Uh, well..."

Then Keith spoke up. "We can't form Voltron, okay?! We can fly the Lions but Voltron is not happening!"

Hearing Keith say that they could not form Voltron made the delegates gasp in shock. Haggar frowned at Keith for saying out loud that Voltron could not be assembled now before Allura tried to ease the situation. "What he means is that right now they can't do it, but-"

"But nothing! Shiro is gone. He was the Black Lion. And until we find him, there is no Voltron!"

Haggar felt now that Keith nearly blew their chances to form a coalition against the Galra as she looked at him with anger. '_That reckless fool is ruining everything!'_

Kolivan then said that the other four Lions are still powerful enough to stand against entire Galra armies. "The Lions are still a substantial fighting force and this castle is also a considerable weapon. The Blade of Marmora can lead you."

The female delegate was unsure that her people should be led by The Blade of Marmora, as they are mostly former Galra soldiers themselves. "My people have been enslaved for centuries by soldiers who look exactly like you."

The Chief of Puig agreed to that. "Yes! Our people have heard the legend of Voltron, how he defeated Zarkon. That is what gave them hope. What are we supposed to tell them now?"

Keith then smacked his hands on the table and fiercely said while nearly jumping off his chair. "Tell them to stand up and fight for themselves! Voltron is gone!" Before he then left the room.

Haggar then stood up, excusing herself. "Will you excuse me for a minute?" And followed Keith, while trying to remain calm.

Once Haggar had left the room, Hunk nervously chuckled while asking if any of the delegates wanted some other dish he prepared. "Pizza roll? Pig in a blanket?"

The chief of Puig looked for a few seconds to the two dishes and said. "I'll have a pizza roll."

In one of the hallways, Haggar marched over to Keith. "Keith! What the hell was that back there?!"

Keith just leaned to a wall with his arms crossed. "What's the point, Haggar? Without Shiro we can never form Voltron, and you know it!"

"This is a very important meeting, Keith! We need the help of these people to defeat the Galra, and there is no room to say out loud what is on your mind! Especially if it discourages everyone!"

Keith looked at Haggar, with huge frustration. "Why not?! Everybody is thinking the same thing, Haggar!"

Haggar's eyes glowed purple as she became very angry and pinned Keith to the wall and looked him in the eye. "KEITH! I know that you're upset about the loss of Shiro, but moaning around, telling all your frustrations and discouraging everyone is not making the pain go away! If you still want to be a part of this team, we need cool heads. You need to learn to control yourself, before you tell your problems! And trust me when I say that I meant it when I said I'd make you wish you had never been born if you endanger my Allura or Katie!"

Keith became nervous after seeing Haggar so angry before her eyes dimmed back to their normal color as she let him go, waiting for what Keith was about to say. He sighed deeply and left, trying to think about his actions before Haggar left him, feeling that he was going to think about what she just said.

As Haggar was about to go back inside, she heard Allura's voice through their mental link. _'Is everything alright, Haggar?'_

Haggar ensured her lover. _'Keith needs some time to get his head back together, my sweet princess. He'll be alright.'_

**Meanwhile**

In the Galra arena, a crowd of Galra were roaring as a beast warrior in the center of the ring roared and charged his smaller opponent. "I tried to speak with Lord Zarkon today, but the witch stopped me again. But somehow, she seems more... different. And not just her changed appearance, but her personality as well." Throk told his blue Galra friend that was sitting beside him.

"I fear the Emperor's condition may be worse than what she is telling us. I'm not sure he will ever return to the throne." The blue Galra said with concern.

"Agreed. And now prince lotor is taking over? We've fought by Zarkon's side forever and now we're passed over by this exiled brat." Throk said with disgust.

"I've heard rumors he fights alongside his enlisted men like a lowly private."

"Worse than that: his top generals aren't even pure Galra. They are half-breeds at best. He has no honor.

"Some say he allows the planets he conquers to continue to rule themselves. Can you imagine?" The Galra general asked as the slim coliseum fighter dodged another sword strike.

"Clearly he's a dangerous lunatic. I've already spoken with the other officers in my sector. They've all agreed to back me if I fight for the throne. Normally, I would never think of such a thing but…"

"What choice do we have?" The Galra general asked, finishing his sentence for him.

"Then you'll support me?" Throk asked, knowing the answer.

"Yes."

Throk smiled as the blades clunged in the background as they turned their attention to the fight.

"Who's this little fellow?" The blue Galra asked.

"I don't know. I've never seen him before." Throk answered, having never seen the new warrior before.

The crowd cheered as the 'little fellow' flipped over the much taller opponent, and landed before dodging and rolling out of the way of sword-club swings. The beast swung again before he noticed his opponent was gone and before he appeared from the other side, disarming him before the beast warrior fell to the ground in defeat.

The victor then took off his helmet, revealing long platinum blonde hair and a lavender face. Throk eyes widened in horror and shock as he knew who the victor was. "Lotor!"

The now revealed prince Lotor drew his sword from the ground, pointing up to Throk. "Throk! You wish to challenge me? Then come down and claim your crown."

That made the crowd gasp and whisper among themselves, with some of them side-eyeing Throk. "True Galra do not take the throne by stirring up insurrection in darkened chambers, they rise through honorable rite of combat. Defeat me here and throne is yours."

The Galra audience cheered in approval as 1 of them reached for her cloak and took it off, along with 3 others in the same unique armor as Lotor revealed themselves. A large woman with blue fur and large eyes akin to Sendaks, the woman with red skin, a woman with no eyes or a mouth and her pet cat, and a blue skinned woman with blue hair and yellow eyes: Lotor's 4 generals.

Throk was surrounded before he stood up and said with determination. "I gladly accept your offer. Now all will see who is the rightful leader." Before he stepped into the arena. "I have fought thousands of battles and left many enemies much more fearsome than you wasting on the battlefield."

Throk then charged Lotor with an aggressive yell and violent swordplay as Lotor parried and dodged calmly, seemingly unruffled. Lotor then parried another strike, which took a few locks of his hair. "You have flawless technique. That, I'll grant you. But still, you must realize at some point that your repetitive attacks are getting you nowhere."

Throk attacked again with anger and aggression, igniting another fierce clash of blades before Lotor attacked with an elbow jab, knocking the wind from him and slicing Throk's sword in two, ending the match with a rather dramatic finish before Throk tumbled to the ground, allowing Lotor to level his sword at the Galra general's throat.

"Your tactics are stale. And in the end, your own aggression was your undoing." Lotor said while pointing out the flaws that cost Throk the fight.

The crowd began chanting. "Lotor! Lotor! Lotor!"

When Lotor withdrew his sword, Throk was surprised before Lotor spoke to the crowd. "My father built our empire on the bones of his enemies. But the time has come to change the old ways and inspire not fear from those we rule but loyalty. We must not waste our energy fighting to keep our subjects down but rather multiply by allowing the worthy to rise and join our ranks." He told them before he offered a hand to Throk. "The Universe can no longer doubt our strength. Each ally gained only makes us stronger. While those who continue to stand against us... will be crushed."

Throk took Lotor's hand and the new ruler pulled him up. "Lotor, we pledge our loyalty to you. Vrepit Sa."

When Lotor's generals saluted him, the other Galra slowly stood and did the same, even Throk's friend. "Lotor! Lotor! Lotor!" The crowd chanted.

A bit later, Lotor's 4 generals were waiting in the corridor as the eyeless general petted her cat. As Lotor approached, the Four Generals stood at attention, saluting their new ruler "That went well." Lotor's red general said with a smile.

"The masses are easily manipulated. Have Throk transferred out to the Ulippa system immediately. Let him rot with the ice worms." Lotor ordered with an evil smile before walking away.

**Meanwhile, at the castle** **hanger**

Keith was watching the Black Lion. Deep down, he missed Shiro and didn't know how things would be without him.

That was when the rest of the team came into the hanger. All glanced at each other, seeing who would talk to Keith first. Lance sighed and walked over to Keith, saying. "Hey, man. Listen... we all miss Shiro. I remember what a thrill it was to meet him for the first time when the two of us carried him out of that garrison hospital."

Hunk and Katie joined in as well, with Katie saying. "I grew up with my dad and Matt telling me stories about him. He was a legend at our house."

Hunk then started saying. "The guy taught me everything I know about being a pilot. Which isn't much, but that's more on me."

Lance nodded and said to Keith that he is not the only one who was hurting. "You're not the only one hurting, man. We're all right there with you. But you know that he would be the first one to tell us that we have to move on."

Keith then started looking at Lance, feeling that he was right that Shiro would tell them all to move on.

Allura and Haggar then walked over to Keith, with Allura telling him. "Keith, me and Haggar know exactly how you feel. But our mission is bigger than any one individual. Even those who are completely irreplaceable."

Haggar then said. "I know it's gonna be hard to accept that Shiro might be gone, but we have faced bigger challenges before, and I know... that we will see this one through as well."

Keith nodded while looking down. "I know you're right, Haggar." Before he looked more determined than ever. "It's time to figure out how to reform Voltron and find a new pilot for the Black Lion."

**Sometime later on Puig**

The Puigians are busy repairing the damage done to their settlement after their liberation from Galra control. Two children ran down a street, laughing while they were playing before everyone's attention was drawn to the sky as a shadow fell over the settlement, revealed to be cast by Lotor's ship.

"We're under attack! To battle stations!" A Puigian warrior told his people who could fight.

From the ship, Lotor's generals surveyed the land below them through an open hangar before jumping off and landing in a seemingly deserted area of the settlement. "Ezor, find the leader. Narti, Zethrid, take prisoners. Kill no one." The general named Acxa ordered her fellow generals

The other generals proceeded to follow Acxa's orders before she was under fire from a band of Puigians. She dodged their fire, returning it as she ran towards the group attacking her. before knocking one of the Puigians over as she passed behind them, driving a series of metal spokes into the ground surrounding her attackers before a containment barrier was erected around them after she pressed a button on her gauntlet.

Kova, the alien cat, jumped onto a ledge behind a rooftop, on the edge of which two armed Puigians were huddled behind the lip of a wall as Narti was walking along the street below, the Puigians ducked out of what they thought was her line of sight before Narti turned her back to the building and used her psychic powers to look through Kova's eyes, allowing her to see the Puigians preparing to attack her. When they stood to shoot, she was no longer in the street, instead reappearing and quickly eliminating them from behind.

Kova meowed as 3 Puigians ran, but were captured in a net shot at them by Zethrid before a Puigian on a giant, yak-like beast tried to trample her, but she used her incredible strength to throw the beast and rider aside.

From atop a hill, the Puigian leader turned away from watching the attack and ran to a cave, trying to reach a communication device that could contact Voltron. But just as he grasped it in hand, an invisible force struck him, knocking the communicator from his grasp before Ezor materialised herself and the device fell into her hand.

"What's this? Some sort of communicator? You weren't trying to call for help, were you? Prince Lotor would not like that." Ezor said with a smirk.

The Puigian leader rushed at her, trying to reclaim the communication device but Ezor dodged his attacks with ease, flinging him across the room. When he looked up, the rest of Lotor's generals, plus the Prince himself, were standing before him, weapons at the ready before Ezor grabbed his shoulder from behind and wiggled her finger in a don't try it gesture.

The Puigian leader sighed before asking. "Who-? Who are you?"

"You dare speak to Prince Lotor?" Axca asked threateningly.

"Now, Acxa, that's no way to treat our new ally. Let him continue." Lotor said, wanting the leader as an ally rather than an enemy.

"We will not be enslaved again! We are free."

"According to whom? Your saviour, Voltron? And where is your precious protector now? Gone. Leaving you with nothing but a hollow promise of freedom. And now you must answer for what you've done." Lotor said with distaste for Voltron.

"Please, spare my people. Show them mercy." The leader begged, wanting his people spared.

"Mercy has never been the way of the Galra... until now." Lotor told him, making the leader gasp in confusion before he looked up as Lotor kneeled down to address him eye-to-eye. "How would you like to become a valuable part of the new Empire? Join us... and you'll never need Voltron again." The half breed prince promised.

The Puigian leader looked afraid, not believing Lotor's words. But from behind him, Ezor grabbed his cheeks and contorted his face into a forced grin. "Smile! We're a team now."

**Meanwhile, in the castle meeting room**

The remaining Paladins, along with Allura, Haggar and Coran were thinking who would be best to pilot the Black Lion. Lance sighed, wishing that Shiro was here to tell them how to go on. "I wish Shiro were here to tell us how to go on without him."

Katie then said to Allura how she was able to connect with the Green Lion. "Allura, when we came here, you told me I would fly the Green Lion, and I thought there was no way. But then, I found it and I flew it. And then, Hunk flew the Yellow Lion, and he's not even a pilot. In fact, you told everyone who would pilot which lion."

While Allura nodded, Hunk wanted to know how she did it back then and if she could do it again to pick a new Black Paladin. "Yeah, how did you do that? Did we ever find out how you did that? Can you do that now?"

But Allura shook her head and answered. "Sadly, no. When you arrived at the Castle, I immediately recognized the special qualities in each of you. But I don't know how to search the entire universe for a new Paladin."

Haggar sat next to her lover and rubbed her back while saying. "Well maybe, my sweet princess, one of us can pilot the Black Lion."

Coran thought of that and asked Keith. "Keith, you piloted the Black Lion when you had to save Shiro. Perhaps you're the one."

Keith looked away, as he didn't want to become the leader of Team Voltron. Lance immediately dismissed the idea to put Keith in charge of the team. "Keith would be the worst leader of Voltron."

Though Katie didn't like to dismiss Keith as a bad leader, as he was a part of their team, but agreed with it some as everyone has their thing. "Even though I don't like to say this, Lance has a point. We all have our thing. Keith's the loner. I'm the brain. Hunk's the nice one. Allura and Haggar are the decision makers. Coran's the wise old guy. And Lance is the goofball."

Lance nodded with a smirk. "Mm-hmm. Yeah, exactly. Totally right- Wait a minute! I'm not a goofball! I'm like the cool ninja sharpshooter."

Haggar just rolled her eyes at Lance telling them that he's like the 'cool ninja sharpshooter' while Keith scoffed at what Lance said. "Are you joking?"

Lance stood up with an angry look on his face, telling them very seriously. "I'm being completely serious when I say, I do not want you to lead me anywhere."

Keith then snapped and said. "I don't want to be the leader! That's just what Shiro wanted!"

That made everyone look at Keith in shock. Hunk stared at him with wide eyes and asked. "What... are you talking about?"

Keith looked away, trying to dismiss it. "Nothing."

"Shiro wanted you to be his successor, didn't he?" Katie asked.

Keith didn't say anything. While for Haggar, it made some more sense of why Keith was acting like this. He wasn't just dealing with losing Shiro, Keith was also afraid to take over the banner of being the leader of Voltron. But the Altean sorceress felt that Keith would be a terrible leader and could put the whole team, especially her precious Allura and her best friend and sister like figure Katie in danger.

Lance started off saying. "Well, I never heard Shiro say that, and how convenient that you're bringing it up now, when Shiro is gone."

Keith snapped and said with anger at Lance. "You want the job so badly, you can have it!"

Hunk tried to tell that he wanted to be the leader from the beginning. "Now, now, hang on. I've called the head from the very beginning."

Then Katie jumped from her seat, saying. "What about me?! I'm the one that picked up the radio waves that led us to Voltron in the first place."

Haggar then called out. "Enough! It's not our decision to make who will be the new Black Paladin. We must allow the Lion to decide."

Allura nodded and stood up while saying. "Haggar is right. We must all present ourselves to the Black Lion to see who will bear this glorious burden."

Haggar held her hand and said. "That means all of us. Even me."

Coran was surprised that Allura, and even Haggar needed to present herself to the Black Lion. "What? You, Princess? And you too, Haggar?"

Haggar nodded while Allura said. "My father created Voltron. How can I allow others to risk their lives in battle and not to be prepared to do so myself? I must try... both of us" Haggar stroked her lover's hand in support.

After they all headed to the Black Lion, they discussed who should go 1st, with Haggar asking Allura to go 1st, followed by Katie, much to Lance's annoyance... before he got a warning glare from the Altean sorceress, which shut him up.

Allura went in and tried to concentrate on getting the Black Lion to respond but it did nothing, making the Altean princess sigh before she got out and Katie tried, but was too small. "Hmm. I wonder if I can adjust the seat?" She asked before getting out.

Hunk then went in but left without even trying, which all 3 Alteans noticed before he got back in, as he didn't want to anger Haggar before he tried sounding like Shiro giving orders to the Paladins, much to Haggar's annoyance. "All right, you're not the one. Out of the Lion."

Then came Lance's turn, who tried to concentrate. "Okay. You can do it. This is your moment." He said before closing his eyes.

Everyone waited for a long while as Lance tried to connect with the Black Lion. "So, how long are we gonna let Lance sit in there?" Katie asked as she stood close to Allura and Haggar.

Hunk checked his watch and said. "Yeah, it's been like half a varga."

After some minutes, Lance came out irritated and sat down on the floor with his arms crossed. "It's useless. The Black Lion hates all of us."

Allura then said to Keith, as it was his turn now. "Keith, I know that you don't want to lead, but you have to try."

Keith sighed deeply. But as he was about to step forward, Haggar stopped him. "Wait." Before everyone looked at Haggar, wondering why she called Keith to stop as she looked at Keith and asked. "If it makes you feel better, I'll go before you...if you want?"

Keith looked at Haggar for a moment, but then nodded, allowing Haggar to go in the Black Lion before him. _"Hope she does it, cause I don't want to. I'd rather the Black Lion be destroyed and Voltron never be formed again than ever lead a team."_

As the Altean sorceress/princess entered the cockpit and sat on it's seat, Haggar sighed deeply and held the controls. When nothing happened yet, she closed her eyes and seemingly spoke to Shiro's spirit seriously, yet sadly. "I know you wanted Keith to lead the team, Shiro. But he's not like you. He can't lead them like you did. I'm not saying he's worthless, he's a great asset to our team, but I can feel that he could do something that could endanger us all. I can't bare to lose anyone close to me again like I lost my mother, my home planet and my people." She said as tears started to form in her eyes, as if she was begging the Black Lion. "Please... let me do it. Let me lead them."

Then all of the sudden, the controls started to turn back on, making Haggar gasp. The Black Lion had chosen her as his pilot. Haggar started to form a smile while she wiped away her tears. "Thank you." She said to the Black Lion, praising the Lion for accepting her as his new Paladin.

The Black Lion came back to life and roared before it allowed Haggar to leave it. Everyone couldn't believe that it was Haggar who had become the new Black Paladin and leader of team Voltron, but then they all were happy for her, especially Allura and Katie as they hugged each other in happiness.

Keith sighed in relief and said under his breath. "Thank God." As was thankful that he wasn't going to be the leader after all.

After Haggar came out of the Lion, Allura hugged her before they shared a passionate kiss. "Congratulations, my darling princess. You now have the glorious honor of being the paladin of the Black Lion and the new leader of Voltron."

"I'm happy for you too, Haggar. Now we can fight more closely together." Katie said with happiness as she hugged her friend.

Hunk and Lance just gave Haggar a thumbs up, along with Keith before Allura suddenly took her darling princess by the hand. "I think this calls for a celebration. And after that, a... special celebration...in our room, my darling princess Haggar."

Haggar smiled at that and took everyone to the living room to celebrate...but also to honor Shiro.

**Meanwhile, with Lotor and his generals**

The poor little Blade of Marmora's defenses are spread so thin, they cannot any of the insurgent planets." Ezor reported to Lotor.

"And what about their rebellion?"

"Crushed." Zethrid answered with a smirk.

"As for the whereabouts of the Voltron Lions: we've had reports of yellow and blue in the Paglium quadrant." Alexia reported while Lotor a map of where the Voltron Lions had been in the universe. "The red one has been seen throughout these quadrants. And the green one here, here and here.

"No Black Lion?" Lotor wondered, knowing that the Black Lion was the most powerful.

"We've questioned the planet's inhabitants. No one has seen it." Acxa answered.

It's like it just vanished. Poof!" Ezor said, still smiling.

"No Black Lion, no Voltron." Lotor said before looking at his blind and mute general. "Narti, go to planet Puig and speak with their leader."

**Meanwhile, back at the castle**

The Altean princesses, Coran and their Paladins were in the middle of a celebratory earth movie that Katie thought Allura and Haggar would enjoy: Disney's Tarzan, which was very entertaining, seeing a human raised by a family of gorillas, but had a bit of dislike for the leader, Kerchak and an even greater hatred for the hunter Clayton and his plan to cage the ape family and sell them on the black market for money, especially Haggar and Allura, due to loving animals but were glad when he got his poetic justice by hanging himself with the vine that wrapped around his neck. They shed a few tears when Kerchak died and finally accepted Tarzan as his son before dying and passing his leadership to Tarzan and they especially loved Terk, Tantor, Jane and her father, who shared their love of animals and were joyful when Jane and her father chose to stay in Africa with Tarzan and his ape family.

When the movie was over, they suddenly got a communication from the Puigian leader. _"Voltron, we need your help. The Galrans have returned. Once you left, we were defenseless. My people are trying to hold out, but the Galra are too powerful._

"The lions are on their way. Hold your ground and protect your people until we arrive. Voltron stands with you." Allura told the leader with the words of a promise.

_"Thank you, Princess." _The leader said... before he was knocked out by Narti, who was setting up team Voltron.

"Everyone, get to your Lions." Haggar told her friends, who did just that.

Before she went to the black Lion, Allura embraced her darling princess. "Haggar, my darling princess and 1 true love, remember that the Lion chose you to be its paladin. I look forward to seeing you lead them. You'll be a great leader to them. Just remember that Katie and I are right here with you."

"I promise, my sweet princess. I'll try my absolute best to honor Shiro, your father and the Paladins of old." Haggar said with a determined smile before she kissed her sweet princess before she headed to her Lion.

**An hour later**

As the Paladins approached the planet Puig with their Lions, a large, strange Galra ship came out of lightspeed and stopped in front of the Lions. Haggar gasped as she recognized who that ship belonged to. "Lotor..."

That was when a voice message was sent to the Paladins, saying. "Attention, Paladins of Voltron. This is Prince Lotor, son of Zarkon, Emperor Pro Tem of the Galra Empire. Surrender now, or you will be destroyed."

"We've been set up!" Katie called as this was all a trap.

As the Galra fighters attacked, Haggar called out to the other Paladins. "Evasive maneuvers! Everyone, watch your back!" Before all the Lions flew out, avoiding the fighters while attacking them.

Allura saw it all on her screen on the Castle, and said to Coran. "Coran, we have to get there immediately!" Before Coran nodded while setting course.

**In Lotor's ship**

Ezor saw on her screen the Black Lion and called enthusiastically to Lotor. "Hey! It's the black kitty!"

Lotor narrowed his eyes as he watched the Black Lion, who hadn't been seen for weeks. "So, it survived." Before he smirked while saying. "Send out the rest of the fighters. Let's see if we can draw them out and see what these Paladins are truly made of."

As the rest of the fighters were being launched and attacked the Lions, Hunk and Katie had a hard time to avoid the hundreds of Galra fighters before Lance came to rescue them. "Pidge! Hunk! Behind you!" The Blue Lion fired many shots and saved Hunk and Katie in the nick of time.

"Thanks, Lance. I just hope my Lion's super armor holds up."

Then Katie noticed that Keith wasn't anywhere near them. "Where's Keith?!"

Meanwhile, Keith was using the Red Lion to destroy more fighters and became frustrated with the number of increasing Galra fighters. "Grrrrrraaaah! Damn you all!" He yelled and fired so many shots that it nearly hit the Black Lion!

"KEITH! You nearly hit me!"

Keith tried to apologize. "Sorry, Haggar." But then he noticed that he her barely did any fighting. "Why aren't you doing much!?"

Haggar tried her best to help, while saying. "I'm trying!"

Katie could hear Haggar's frustration and tried to calm her down. "Haggar, listen. We had trouble too when we flew our Lions the 1st time, but we managed to do it. Just focus. The Black Lion chose you for a reason. You can do it."

Lance nodded while he said. "Yeah. There's no one else in the universe, besides Shiro, I would follow as our leader."

Hunk then also said. "We would have never gone far without you, Haggar. We believe in you."

Keith also tried to encourage the new Black Paladin. "Just snap out of it. We all know you have it in you."

The Paladins' encouragement warmed Haggar's heart. She nodded and closed her eyes, and focused. She could feel her connection with the Black Lion increasing before the Black Lion's eyes shined and roared. Haggar's eyes snapped open with determination and used her bayard to use the Black Lion's wings to destroy over 50 fighters at once!

Katie cheered for her Altean friend. "Woohoo! That's what I'm talking about, Haggar!"

**In Lotor's ship**

The new ruler of Zarkon's empire watched with interest for a moment. He thought that the Black Lion wasn't in control, and now it was. So he called his other general to use the ion cannon. "Zethrid, use the ion cannon to shoot the Black Lion!"

"Why the black one?" Zethrid asked, confused.

Lotor explained. "There's something different about that lion. Its pilot isn't yet completely in control. And, Zethrid, just graze it. We don't want any permanent damage."

Zethrid rolled his eyes in annoyance while pressing some buttons. "Fine."

**Back outside**

As the Paladins had got rid of a whole swarm of fighters, all 5 readied themselves to face another wave as Hunk asked Haggar. "Haggar, what should we do?"

Haggar thought for a few seconds and said. "We need to attack the larger ship. Lance, Keith, you will distract the fighters! Katie, Hunk, you will destroy the main weapons on the ship! I'll head for the bridge."

The other Paladins nodded. "Right!"

While the other 4 did what Haggar told them to do, Haggar headed to attack the bridge. But then the ion cannon hit Haggar head on and blasted her backwards!

"Haggar!" Katie yelled in shock.

Haggar breathed in frustration, but recovered quickly. "I'm okay. I didn't know that Lotor had installed that ion cannon on his ship."

Lance then asked her with surprise. "Wait! You know that guy?!"

"More than you think, Lance." She said with dread.

Then the ion cannon fired again on Haggar, but this time she was prepared and fired back at the shot, stopping it in midair and before it exploded!

Lotor just smirked as he was impressed by this 'new' pilot that controlled the Black Lion. "Aha. Looks like this pilot can fight better after all." But then something hit the ship, making it shake. Lotor asked what was going on. "What was that?"

"It's the Altean ship." Acxa answered as the Castle was attacking their ship.

"Need some help?" Coran called while Allura fired another energy beam at the Galra fighters, destroying more of them.

"Thanks, Coran" Haggar said with a smile to the Keeper of Altea. Then she called out to the other Paladins. "Everyone! We need to form Voltron if we're gonna try and knock out Lotor's ship." Before they all nodded in agreement.

Acxa then asked Lotor. "What are your orders, sir? Should we fire on the lions?"

Lotor however knew already what the Lions are capable of if they formed Voltron and answered. "No, we've seen enough. Retreat." Before they all nodded and set course to leave the system.

All the Paladins cheered as they won. "We did it!" Lance called. "I mean, it was a little touch and go there for a second, but, yeah, we made it."

Katie said with pride, as she couldn't be any more proud of her Altean friend and sister like figure. "Haggar, you were awesome back there."

Haggar smiled. "Thanks Katie. Thank you all."

Keith however, wasn't so cheerful, as the revelation that Zarkon has a son worried him. "Now, we know that Zarkon has a son. But why haven't you told us, Haggar?"

Haggar sighed while she confessed. "Lotor hasn't been seen for a long time. Zarkon had sent him away to the furthest parts of the universe. Never thought he would eventually show up after..."

"After what?" Keith asked.

Haggar then said. "I'll explain to you guys later. Let's head back to the castle."

**Later, on the castle**

Haggar started to tell all she knew about Lotor. "What Lotor said was true. He is Zarkon's son."

"But how?" Hunk asked.

Haggar sighed again and looked with a look of regret. "It was not long after the destruction of Altea. Zarkon's men captured a few Altean survivors. Most of them were executed not long after by Zarkon. But one of them, a beautiful young Altean woman named Honerva caught Zarkon's eye. Instead of killing her instantly, Zarkon made her... his concubine." That last part came with disgust from Haggar while she told further "After a year… Honerva gave birth to a son, Lotor. Half galra and half Altean. Something that nobody saw was possible, as hybrids between Galra and other species were very rare. As the child grew, Zarkon saw his son's Altean heritage as a weakness. So, as his High Priestess, he ordered me to use quintessence to root out his weaknesses." It pained Haggar when she remembered how she tortured the child, Lotor and even enjoyed it. "Honerva then fell into a sickness that put her into a coma, so Zarkon chose to leave her in her coma to rot on a far away planet that only he knew about while also keeping her alive with the quintessence... while also keeping her a secret from Lotor...never letting him know about her... despite me wanting to tell him every day since."

All the Paladins, Allura and Coran couldn't believe what they heard from Haggar. Allura tried to comfort her lover through their mental link. Haggar nodded and told further. "But no matter how much I tried, Lotor never became the warrior his father wanted him to be. So when he became of age, Zarkon banished him, never to return. But now... he's back."

Allura could still feel the regret that Haggar was having for what she did to Lotor, when she was still Zarkon's High Priestess. She walked over to her, holding her close while she softly said. "You're not that evil person anymore, Haggar. It was Zarkon that ordered it all."

Haggar however, shook her head. "It's still no excuse. And now that Lotor is back, I can't imagine what he's going to do, now that he's ruling the empire in his father's place."

Katie came to her Altean friend and rubbed her arm. "Don't worry, Haggar. We'll get through this. With you as the new Black Paladin, we can defeat Lotor."

Haggar smiled and said while rubbing her hair. "Thank you, Katie."

Lance and Hunk were ensuring Haggar that she would do a great job as their new leader. But Keith... he was having different thoughts. Now that Prince Lotor had shown himself, he was worried what this would mean for the war, and all the people of the universe as his eyes frowned, as he thought that he had to do something.

**Later**

Haggar showed her new Paladin's armor, which had purple in it. Allura smiled, happy to see her lover in her new armor. "That new armor suits you well, Haggar."

Haggar nodded while saying. "Yes. I thought that this color would be the best choice to honor the Paladins of old...and Shiro."

Allura put her hand on Haggar's cheek and rubbed her red marks. "You're going to be a great leader to them, Haggar."

Haggar smiled at her lover and future wife. But as they were about to passionately kiss, Coran called to them. "Princesses! The Red Lion is leaving the castle!"

Haggar immediately contacted Keith. "Keith, where are you going?!"

While the Red Lion flew out of the castle, Keith answered by saying "I put a tracker on Lotor's ship. I'm going after him."

Haggar was immediately against this and ordered Keith to come back. "Keith! Come back to the castle, now!"

But Keith didn't listen, as he looked with a fierce look to where he was heading. "I'm not gonna stand by and watch another Zarkon take over. I'm gonna end this war, once and for all...by killing Lotor!"

"Keith! You come back to the castle immediately! That's an order!"

However, Haggar's words fell into deaf ears, as Keith just said. "Sorry Haggar, you're not getting through."

"KEITH! IF YOU DO NOT PULL BACK, I'LL-" But Keith just broke off contact and headed faster to Lotor's location as Haggar kept trying to contact Keith "Keith?! KEITH?! Damn it all! Paladins, get to your lions! We're going after Keith!" Before the remaining Paladins did just that.

"Haggar, I'm coming too. I want to help you and the others." Allura said with determination to help her darling princess and Katie.

"Allura, Keith is being extremely stupid and reckless right now. I don't know what will happen out there, but I don't think it will be good, especially since Lotor is involved." Haggar told her sweet princess with concern.

"I'll be alright, my darling princess. Katie built a new Voltron fighter that is more durable than the last 1. I promise you that I'll be careful and stay close to you and Katie while we're out there."

Haggar didn't want her sweet princess in danger, but she understood that her lover wanted to do more than just sit in the castle. So after thinking it over and knowing that they didn't have any more time, she nodded and quickly kissed her. "All right, my sweet princess, but promise me you'll be careful out there... please."

"I promise, my darling princess. And if anything goes wrong, I'll get out of there and return to the castle." Allura promised before they shared a hug and kiss before they headed to the hanger.

**A bit later**

Keith caught up with Lotor's ship on the other side of a nearby planet and just as he was about to engage the new Galra emperor's ship with the Red Lion, the other 4 Lions tried to keep up with him, while Haggar tried to order Keith to turn back now. "KEITH, YOU IDIOT! TURN BACK RIGHT NOW!" But Keith didn't respond and kept heading to Lotor.

**Meanwhile, in Lotor's ship**

Lotor found it interesting that only the Red Lion was about to attack his ship and sensed that there is some diversity between the Paladins, which he saw as a perfect opportunity to get rid of Voltron. So he prepared his fighter to attack the Lions himself. "Keep the ship on this heading until my return. Prepare my fighter. I'm going to deal with Voltron myself."

"You'll never take them all out alone." Zethrid said with concern.

"I don't need to. The diversity between the Paladins will help me with most of the work." Lotor said with a smirk.

"Haggar, I'm getting a single fighter on my screen, but I don't see anymore coming out." Hunk reported to his new team leader.

As sensed that the pilot of the fighter was Lotor, she warned the Paladins. "Watch yourselves, Paladins. It's Lotor who's flying that fighter, and he's far better at piloting than you think he is. Believe me, I know." Before she tried to contact Keith again. "Keith! You cannot fight Lotor all by yourself. You're going to be destroyed!"

But Keith did not hear her as he had shut down all his communications and kept heading to engage Lotor. Haggar then tried again, but again to no avail. "Keith, do you read me? Keith!" Before she told the others. "He's still not responding. Everyone, on me! We're going to help him."

The space fight was going well a bit, but Keith is doing most of the fighting against Lotor. But he could not get a clear shot at him and kept getting shot by Lotor's fighter. As 1 shot nearly took him out, he was saved in time by Katie. But instead of thanking her, Keith just pushed her Lion away hard. "Stay out of this, Pidge!"

"Keith, are you crazy? I'm trying to stop you from being stupid!" Katie told him, beginning to get mad at Keith for pushing her like that before Keith pushed her away from him harder.

"I'm not being stupid, Pidge. I'm stopping another Zarkon from taking over. If you don't like it, you and the others can get the hell out of here!" He told her, beginning to get angry.

That was when Allura tried to help. "Keith, you're acting crazy! Stop this madness now! You can't beat Lotor like this!" She yelled as Katie got close to Allura to help her get Keith to stop this madness.

When Katie tried to help Allura by getting to him the 3rd time...he pushed them both away again before turning on them. "I said... STAY OUT OF IT, YOU BITCHES!" Before he blasted them away with his blaster and kept attacking Lotor's fighter, who was heading toward Thayserix in order to lure the Paladins there.

When Lotor's fighter left and Keith followed him, the others checked on Allura and Katie to see if they were alright, with Haggar being the most worried about them. "Katie! Allura! Are you both alright?"

Allura and Katie groaned after she regained control of her Lion. "Yeah... I'm okay. I just hope that Keith didn't do any permanent damage to the Green Lion."

"Why did he do that to us?! We were just trying to help him! What is his problem?!" Allura asked as she regained control of her fighter.

Haggar became angry as to what Keith nearly did to her sweet princess and Katie but calmly said. "He's lost it, that's what his problem is."

Hunk then suggested. "So... should we call it quits? Maybe go back, regroup, get a meal and let Keith blow off some steam?"

Haggar shook her head. "No! We need to get Keith back to his senses, and I mean not in the polite way of getting him back to his senses. Where are Lotor and Keith heading?"

Katie checked to see which course Lotor's fighter set and said. "It looks like his heading towards a planet called Thayserix."

Haggar's eyes went wide in shock, as she knew how dangerous that planet was. "Oh no. Everyone follow me! We're going after them!"

As they all prepared to head to Thayserix, Hunk asked. "Haggar, you seemed to be very worried right there when Pidge mentioned about Thayserix. What's about that planet anyway?"

Haggar then explained. "The planet is made of dense gases and has unusual magnetic poles that distort and wreak havoc on normal sensors."

But that didn't really make any sense to Lance, so he asked. "Okay, can you be a bit more specific, Haggar?"

"Lotor is leading Keith into a trap, that's what I'm trying to say!"

Katie already knew how dangerous that sounded. "Of course, if we are there, our sensors will go blind." Before Haggar nodded as they headed towards Thayserix.

Unfortunately, Lotor's generals knew that as well and recalibrated his fighter to adjust to the planet so he wouldn't be harmed and his sensors wouldn't be affected in any way. "Keep the ship in orbit around Thayserix. All flush the Lions out 1by 1 for you to capture." Lotor ordered with an evil smile.

When the others got to the dangerous planet, nearly all of the Lions got into trouble because of the dense atmosphere of Thayserix, with their senses going offline before Allura fell behind and barely avoided crashing into a rock, but lost control and began to crash out of control. "Haggar, I can't get control!"

"ALLURA!" Haggar shouted in fear for her 1 and only love.

"Don't worry, Haggar! I'll go after her!" Hunk told his leader as he broke off to save Allura.

"Right behind you, Hunk." Katie said as she, Haggar and Lance followed Hunk.

Haggar looked at Keith, who was still following Lotor recklessly and carelessly with a very angry glare. _"Keith, you reckless, careless and foolish bastard! You have put this team, especially my Allura and Katie in danger for the last time!" _

As the others quickly found Allura and Hunk, Katie said with worry. "Allura, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm alright, Katie. I'm sorry I scared you all like that." Allura apologized.

"It's not your fault, my sweet princess. It's that bastard Keith's fault! He's the 1 who caused all this. Let's go find him and get out of here, and don't use talking, use whatever you have to do to restrain him, even if you have to injure the Lion or him to do it." Haggar told her team with seriousness.

"You got it, Haggar! After what he did to me and Allura, I'm going to do whatever I need to do to get back at that bastard." Katie said with understandable anger at Keith.

"Just keep close to Allura, Katie. I don't want anyone else hurt. We'll get Lotor another day. Let's just get Keith and get out of here." Haggar told her friend and the 1 who was like a sister to her and Allura.

When they all tried to find Keith and Lotor, they were being engaged by the new Galra emperor, with Keith firing his blaster, exploding a lot of gas that hurt the team greatly! But this time, Haggar was separated from the team, while Katie and Allura hid from Lotor. "I'm impressed with how you're able to hide, but I will find you." He said threateningly as Katie and Allura stayed close to each other.

**Meanwhile**

Keith now realized his mistake as he put the whole team in danger. "Oh man, I put the team in danger. Haggar was right. I fell for Lotor's trap. But they shouldn't have even come in the 1st place! Grrrrrrr! Guess I better go find them."

**Meanwhile**

Hunk was getting scared as he was alone out on this dangerous planet. "Hello? Anyone?" He asked before he saw something coming, which was revealed to be Haggar. "Haggar, you're alive! I'm so glad you found me."

"Where's Allura and Katie?" Haggar asked with worry for her true love and the 1 she thought as hers and Allura's sister.

"I'm sorry, Haggar, but I haven't seen them or Lance." Hunk answered sadly.

"What about Keith? Where is that bastard?!" Haggar asked with anger at the 1 who got them into this mess.

"Haven't seen him either. Hope he's hurt because this time, he's gone way too far!" Hunk said with the same anger.

**Meanwhile**

Lance concentrated and the Blue Lion spoke to him by activating a new power: a sonar map, which helped Katie and Allura avoid Lotor...but not before he wounded them both: Allura by crashing and breaking her right arm and Katie by her left leg getting burned as 1 of the systems exploded when Lotor hit her Lion! After Lance got Lotor away from them by luring him into the gas and freezing the left wing of his fighter, they found Keith, becoming very angry with him due to it being his fault for everything that had happened to them.

They then found Haggar and Hunk before Katie saw something. "Haggar, it looks like Lotor called for backup." Katie told her friend, spotting a Galra fleet above them in space.

"Haggar, my love, I'm scared." Allura cried while holding her broken arm.

"I know you are, my sweet princess, but we must work together to get out of here. All of you, listen to me. Because of Keith and his reckless and careless actions, we've all been put in danger. But we can still get out of this. We may have come here disorganized but Shiro always believed in us, including me when I went with you on your 1st mission. Honor him, honor Allura's father and the Paladins of old and let's take this fight to Lotor!"

Everyone agreed and after trying, they finally formed Voltron, despite everyone still very angry at Keith for what he did. After that, they got off Thayserix and engaged the Galra fleet, with Allura so happy that Haggar was now the head of Voltron and as such, had proven herself a worthy leader.

"Haggar, my darling princess, you've done it! You're now the head of Voltron!" Allura cried out happily.

"Thank you, my sweet princess." Haggar said sweetly and lovingly.

"How's it feel, Haggar? Feels like an honor, doesn't it?" Katie asked, happy for her Altean friend.

"A true honor, Katie." Haggar answered with a smile, happy to have the great honor of being the head of the legendary defender.

The Galra fleet fought back but with Haggar using her powers, they were easily outclassed and after most of the fleet was destroyed, Lotor and his generals escaped. "Haggar, Lotor's escaping." Allura told her lover.

"Let him go, my sweet princess. We'll fight him another day. Let's just get back to the castle." Haggar told them before they all headed back to the castle.

When everyone got out of their Lions and Allura got out of her fighter, Haggar saw Katie limping before she fell to the floor and Allura holding her arm that didn't seem to be moving. "Allura? Katie? Are you alright?" She asked with concern as Coran came in and checked on them.

"I'm afraid that Allura's arm is broken, Haggar." Coran said with worry before he got Katie's leg armor off and saw her leg, which had 2nd degree burns on it. "Oh by the ancients." He said with a gasp.

When Haggar saw how wounded her 1 true love and sister-like figure were, she was beyond enraged as her eyes glowed purple before looking at Keith, who began backing away in fear. "YOU!" She yelled before lifting him up with her power and breaking off his armor before throwing him into the walls 10 times, hurting him a lot before bringing him to her fast before she punched him hard in the gut, making him cough out a mouthful of blood. "YOU PUT THIS ENTIRE TEAM IN DANGER, NEARLY GOT EVERYONE OF US KILLED, BLASTED MY ALLURA AND KATIE AND GOT THEM GREATLY HURT! Before throwing him hard to the floor.

"You… shouldn't have... followed me in the 1st place, Haggar! If you hadn't come after me, I would have killed Lotor. It's all your fault, too!" Keith yelled back.

But this only got Haggar more angry. "You dare blame me for your mistake?! I told you not to go after Lotor and you would not listen to me! And because of you, my Allura and Katie are greatly hurt... AND YOU BLAME IT ALL ON ME?!" She asked with fury before she used her electric power to shock Keith, hurting the disgrace of a Paladins greatly as he yelled in pain!

"Haggar, stop!" Allura cried out, making Haggar stop as Katie hugged her legs to help calm her down.

"Haggar, he's not worth it. Please don't do this. We're angry with this bastard, too but he isn't worth killing." Katie cried as tears fell from her eyes.

"He does deserve to be punished, my darling princess, but not killed. We'll punish this bastard another way. Just stop and let's all just get some rest... please, Haggar." Allura cried as she touched her lover's cheek with her unbroken arm.

Haggar looked softly at Allura and Katie and knew that they were right. Keith deserved to be punished, but not so far as to die. She then kissed Allura on the lips and Katie on her forehead before looking angrily at Keith again before pulling him to her. "You are so lucky that my Allura and Katie were here to stop me, you disgraceful bastard, otherwise I would have taken your pathetic life. But just because I'm letting you live doesn't mean you won't go unpunished! You have endangered us all... for the last time." Before she put her hands on his head and her magic went into Keith's head before it stopped and Haggar threw him to the floor.

Keith was horrified, as he felt like something was taken from him inside. "What... what have you done to me?"

Haggar looked with anger and disappointment at Keith. "I've severed your connection to the Red Lion. You have crossed the line this time, Keith, by facing Lotor alone and putting us all in danger. Now you will live with the consequences of your actions. From this day forward, you are no longer the Red Paladin."

Everyone agreed with Haggar, as Keith had crossed the line for the last time. "Hunk and I will take Allura and Katie to the healing chambers, Haggar. It's best to get them healed right away." Coran said seriously before he gently took Allura while Hunk gently and carefully carried Katie.

"Do that, Coran. And when they're healed, send them both to mine and Allura's room. Katie is sleeping with us tonight. After you do that, get some rest. Lotor is still out there and I want him to pay for his part in this when we encounter him again." Haggar told everyone.

"Haggar, what about him?" Lance asked while pointing at the now former red Paladin.

"Take him to his room and lock him in there for the rest of the night. It'll give him time to reflect on what he's done." Haggar told her teammate as she looked at the disgraced Paladin 1 more time in anger before walking away, leaving Keith devastated, as he now saw that he should have learned to control himself sooner and not take the fight to the Galra all by himself as Lance took him to his room, threw him in and locked him in there.

During the night, Allura and Katie spent a few hours in a healing chamber, which completely healed their injuries before they went to Allura and Haggar's room, where Haggar had gotten some clothes for the both of them. After they took separate bathes, with Haggar bathing Allura and Katie to help them relax, the green Paladin got on the couch that Haggar had set up for her and quickly fell asleep before the Altean princesses did the same, snuggling close together and holding each other tightly as they drifted off to sleep.

**There you go, my dear friends. The chapter is complete. Next is the Hole in the Sky episode. Rate and review. See you all soon, my dear friends.**


	15. Hole in the Sky

**Hole in the Sky**

Shortly after Haggar had severed his link with the Red Lion and stripped him of his title as Paladin, due to his reckless and selfish attitude that unfortunately left both Allura and Katie badly injured...Keith had sat on the bed of his locked quarters, sitting in complete silence and remorse, as his cold and distant attitude and his reckless actions cost him everything: his link with the Red Lion, his position as the Red Paladin and more importantly...lost the trust and respect of his friends, whom he had deeply hurt because he simply refused to accept the reality that Shiro was probably dead and rushed to kill Lotor.

Keith stated while covering his face in shame, as he knew his friends had no intention of letting him out of his 'cell' without risking Haggar's ire. "You've got to help me Shiro."

That was when he heard a familiar voice reply. "Don't give up on your friends, Keith. They're all you have."

Keith was surprised as his 'cell' was consumed by a bright white light and much to his great surprise... before he saw that Shiro had walked out from the light, but had appeared as a spirit/ghost! The former Red Paladin asked softly. "Shiro...is that...Is that really you?"

His friend and leader answered while sitting down beside him. "I'm not really here with you Keith. I'm somewhere else."

Keith stated softly. "I screwed up big time Shiro. I really screwed up."

The Black human Paladin stated softly. "Keith...I completely understand why you've been acting the way you have: Lance and the others thinking that I'm truly dead and Allura wanting to find a new Paladin to pilot the Black Lion. That would cause anybody to snap. But Keith...you have to accept that people won't always live forever and sooner or later...we'll all be replaced."

Keith stated with soft eyes. "Shiro...I just feel so lost without you. The person that caused Allura and Pidge to be seriously hurt...I would never do that."

Shiro replied while placing a gentle hand on the former Red Paladin's shoulder. "I miss you too, buddy. I miss you too." Before Shiro had vanished, as his time was nearly up, he told his friend. "Keith, before I go, I ask that you don't do what you did when you hurt Allura and Pidge. If you do, Haggar will do something far worse than what she did to you and she won't be able to stop herself. But after what happened, it'll take a while for you to earn her trust back."

Keith stated softly, as he knew it was time for his team leader and best friend to go. "I swear I'll make you proud, Shiro."

The former Black Paladin stated with a soft grin. "I have no doubt that you'll make me proud, Keith."

**The next morning**

Haggar, Allura and Katie were having breakfast in bed, as they weren't ready to leave the room yet. Haggar had chosen a favorite Altean dish that she and Allura loved as teenagers and Katie found that she liked it, which gave her an idea of asking Hunk to introduce Earth to some Altean food, which she knew he'd agree with.

After eating their breakfast and getting dressed for the day, the Altean princesses and Katie went to the living quarters, where they began watching Disney's the Legend of Tarzan. Haggar and Allura became so interested in Tarzan that Katie explained that Tarzan was the creation of a famous writer from the 1800s named Edgar Rice Burroughs, and that the studio of Walt Disney pictures were granted permission to make their movie version of Tarzan, which made the disney version possible and it was considered by many people of Earth to be the most favorite version of Tarzan, and it still was to this very day.

**Several days later**

Since the team's last encounter with Lotor, which resulted in a nearly deadly disaster, as Keith tried to take on Lotor himself and had endangered the rest of the team because of it. What's worse, Keith's anger and reckless actions had gotten Allura and Katie badly injured. And for his actions, the former high priestess of Zarkon, now the new Black Paladin and leader of Voltron, Haggar had severed Keith's link to the Red Lion and removed his rank as a Paladin of Voltron.

Keith was now rarely spoken to and was now mostly ignored by the rest of the team, feeling angry and disappointed in their friend for what he did and hurting Katie and Allura, though indirectly. Keith felt devastated and felt more alone than he had ever felt before but knew that they had every right to feel that way towards him.

That morning, the team (without Keith) was gathered at the dining room for breakfast. Now that Keith was no longer the Red Paladin, they all knew that they had to find a new pilot for the Red Lion. Lance was the first to speak. "So…what do we do next?"

Haggar looked at Lance, already knowing what he was trying to say. "I know what's on your mind, Lance, all of you." She said to the rest of the Paladins. "Now that Keith is no longer part of the team, we need to start looking for a new pilot for the Red Lion."

"But who could it be, Haggar? We can't just go looking around the entire universe for a new Paladin." Katie said with concern, as looking for a new Paladins would take far too much time.

Hunk agreed to that. "Yeah, Pidge is right. With Lotor out there and us not being able to form Voltron, the other planets we just liberated will all be reconquered."

Haggar understood their worries and said. "I know that finding a new Paladin could cost us far too much valuable time, but if we can't find a new Red Paladin among us, we have no choice but to look for a new one across the universe."

All nodded, as they had to see first which 1 of them could pilot the Red Lion before they start searching across the universe. Allura hoped that she could be the 1 to pilot the Red Lion, as her father had piloted it in his time. Just then, Keith walked inside the dining room. All of the others gave him a fierce look before Keith sighed as he just took some food out of the fridge and walked back to his room.

When Keith was gone, Lance asked Allura. "How long do we plan to keep 'him' around, after what he nearly did to all of us? Especially you and Pidge, Allura?"

Allura and Haggar then looked at each other for a moment before the Altean princess answered Lance. "I know what he did was unforgivable, but we still need all the help we can get to fight Lotor and the Galra. But not before he's finally learned the consequences of his actions and learns to control himself. Only then can he help us again. But he's not going to be the Red Paladin or a Paladin of any of the Lions anymore. He's disgraced his position by taking reckless actions and nearly getting us all killed."

Everyone agreed to that before they all went back to eating their food, with Katie sitting close to Allura and Haggar before Haggar rubbed her hair gently.

**A while later**

The team had gathered at the hanger. Keith was there too, but kept his distance and just watched, seeing who would be the new Red Paladin. Allura was the first to go in. As she entered the cockpit and sat on it's seat, Allura took the controls and tried to focus to form a link with the Red Lion. "I want to carry on my father's fight, but I need your help. Allow me to follow in his footsteps as your Paladin." But after some minutes of trying, the Red Lion didn't respond. Allura begged the Lion to choose her. "Please, I must do this. Others are risking their lives in this fight and I can't continue to-" She said before she started crying, as she couldn't bare to see anyone else she loved getting hurt, especially her lover, Haggar, or hers and her lover's surrogate younger sister, Katie.

Not long after, Allura stepped out of the Red Lion, feeling sad that the Lion didn't choose her to be the new pilot. Haggar hugged her princess to comfort her. "I'm sorry, my sweet princess. I know how much you wanted to pilot the Red Lion."

Allura broke the hug while wiping away her tears and gave a little nod. "I'm fine now, my darling princess. Let's just... move on."

Everyone looked at each other for a moment to see who would go next. But strangely, Lance wasn't among them. Haggar looked and saw him in front of his Blue Lion. But there was something odd. The Blue Lion wasn't lowering his shield for Lance anymore. She walked up to him and asked. "Lance, what's wrong?"

Lance shook his head as he didn't know. "I don't know. Blue is shutting me out." Before he then tried to talk to his Lion. "Come on, Old Blue. It's me, Lancey Lance. Open up. Please?" But the Blue Lion still didn't respond "Is this because I wanted to fly the Black Lion before? It was just a phase. C'mon! Open up!" Lance begged the Blue Lion at this point.

Haggar found it strange that the Blue Lion didn't respond to Lance anymore. Then, when Allura joined them, all of the sudden, the Red Lion roared, surprising the team a bit. Haggar then wondered something as she used her senses. "The Red Lion... is calling for you, Lance. It is choosing you."

Lance didn't understand, but nodded and went inside the Red Lion. At that moment, the Blue Lion lowered it's shield, as it was calling to... Allura. Both Haggar and Allura could feel it, making them both smile.

When Lance sat in the cockpit of the Red Lion, and Allura in the Blue's, both Lions came to life and roared. Everyone was happy, as Allura not only had her chance to fight alongside the team, but also that Lance is the new pilot for the Red Lion. Keith just stood there in a corner, feeling happy for his friends. But still felt ashamed for his actions and left the hanger. He had to make it up somehow.

Haggar seemed to have sensed it in Keith's mind, knowing that Keith is slowly finally learning his lesson. Though she was still angry at him for what he did, she did still have hope for him, though it was slim. _'In time, Keith, we might be able to trust you again. But for now, you need to learn to control yourself and accept the consequences of your reckless actions.'_

**A week later**

Now that the team had a new pilot for both the Red and Blue Lion, they were ready again to take the fight to Lotor and get revenge on him for Allura and Katie's injuries. But not before Allura had some more training, and Lance to better control his Red Lion. It was hard, but in time, thanks to Haggar's encouragement, they were able to control their Lions and the team was able to form Voltron.

The team had just returned from another mission, after defeating a Galra counterattack on a system that had just liberated itself. While they were on the bridge, waiting for the next thing to happen, an alarm went off on the main screen and Allura, Coran and Haggar couldn't believe what they just saw.

Katie asked, confused. "What's going on? This kind of alarm had never gone off before."

Lance then asked their Altean friends, as they looked pale for some reason. "Haggar, what is it?"

Hunk nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you guys look like you just saw a ghost."

Coran checked the controls while answering. "That's just the thing. It's an old Altean distress code. 1 used by King Alfor's ships."

Allura and Haggar held each other close, as they couldn't believe that perhaps they weren't the last Alteans in the universe. "Could it be? Are we not the last Alteans alive?" Allura asked her lover.

Haggar was astounded by what she witnessed. "I... I can't believe it. I thought all the Alteans were wiped out? I saw it with my own eyes 10.000 years ago."

Keith, who was also on the bridge, said. "Wait. What if someone's cloning the signal to try and lure us in?"

Everyone looked at Keith with a fierce look, making him nervous before Haggar took the controls while saying to Keith without looking at him. "The signal is from an Altean ship, and we're going to find it."

Lance nodded as he tried to dismiss Keith. "Yeah, so why don't you just sit in your room and let the REAL Paladins do the job?"

Keith wasn't happy that Lance was speaking to him like that. But when he looked at Haggar, who was giving him a serious look, he sadly nodded and left the bridge before Allura saw a very familiar Altean ship. "That looks like a Tel-Galax exploration shuttle. 1 of my father's deep space vessels."

"Yes. I recognize the ship as well, my sweet princess." Haggar added after her lover, having been on 1 once when she and Allura were teenagers on Altea 10,000 years ago.

"According to the ship's identification code, it's Commander Trayling's ship. But I don't see any records of it's destination or mission." Clean informed the others.

"What Happened to it?" Lance asked.

"Is it stuck in a wormhole?" Asked Hunk, seeing the ship was halfway through the yellow energy.

"That's unlike any wormhole I've ever seen." Coran said to the yellow Paladin.

"There's a massive amount of energy emanating from it, centered right where the ship is stuck." Katie informed them, noticing that the strange wormhole was emanating a massive amount of energy.

"We have to see if anyone is aboard. They may need our help." Allura told everyone as she held Haggar close to her.

"We could send a probe over to it, see if we can get some kind of idea what this thing is." Katie suggested.

"Do it, Katie." Haggar said to hers and her Allura's surrogate younger sister before she did just that.

As the probe was getting close to the ship, everyone was informing the Altean princesses of its readings. "The energy shows no signs of radioactive decay and it's not thermal."

"It's not gravitational either. Our probe is steady on course, and the light is radiating out, not in, like it would in a black hole." Hunk said.

"But out from where?" Katie asked.

Coran then saw a familiar energy signature. "That energy signature, I know it. It's radiating quintessence!" He said before the probe entered the yellow energy hole and was destroyed on entry.

"Ooh! That's weird." Hunk said with a weirded out look.

Lance didn't think it was a good idea to go any further. "Okay, well let's not go anywhere near there."

"We must." Allura told the yellow Paladin.

"Hold on. Didn't you just see what happened?" Hunk protested.

"Voltron's compositional strength far exceeds anything else in this universe. We received an Altean distress call, which must mean that someone is alive on the ship. As Paladins of Voltron, it is our duty to help." Haggar reminded her fellow Paladins and friends.

"But Haggar, I still think there's a chance that this whole thing is a trap." Katie said to her friends and big sisters.

"Even if it is not a tap, it's far too dangerous to go in there." Coran told them.

Then Haggar and I will do it ourselves if we have to." Allura told them before she and her darling princess walked off the bridge with her, with Katie quickly following them and Lance and Hunk (very reluctantly) doing the same.

The team then got into their Lions and formed Voltron before slowly flying to the Altean ship. All right, let's take it slow. Katie, any chance you can explain what I'm seeing right now?" Haggar asked.

The Euclidian space around the ship is obviously some kind of anomaly. But the energy source doesn't originate from anything that registers with my understanding of how reality works. In normal talk, that means no." Katie answered honestly.

"I'll scan the ship for biorhythms." Hunk said before he did just that before seeing no life signs aboard the ship. "That's strange. I'm not showing any signs of life on that ship."

But Allura knew differently. "Maybe not on this half, but there is more to this ship than we are seeing. We need to go though there."

"The glowy, explode-y area?" Lance asked with a bit of fear in his voice.

"Katie, keep an eye on Voltron's vitals. Everyone, be prepared to abort if things get 'out of hand' as you humans say." Haggar told everyone while saying an Earth expression that Katie had taught her and Allura.

"Roger that. Ready to abort immediately." Hunk said.

That was when Katie saw something on her sensor screen. "Guys, my sensors are going crazy. Technically, we should be torn apart that same way the probe was. But somehow Voltron is completely unaffected by the stress of the spatial distortion."

Coran tried to contact them but could not get through. "Hello? What are you seeing? I'm losing visual. Hello?" Before Voltron disappeared into the Quintessence. "No!" He said in fear for the Paladin's lives.

**Meanwhile**

"We must have crossed through because that's the front of the ship." Katie informed her friends.

That was when Allura noticed something. "Wait. The back half of this ship, it's gone!" Before Voltron flew up and saw another planet ahead. "Coran! Coran! We've lost sight of the castle." But Coran didn't respond. "Coran, are you there?"

"Where did he go?" Haggar asked, wondering where the castle was.

"And where'd that planet come from?" Lance added.

"According to my sensors, we're still in the same place we were before." Katie told them while looking at her sensors, seeing that they were in the same place as they were when they entered the wormhole.

"Guys, this is gonna sound strange, but now I'm detecting multiple biorhythms aboard the ship." Hunk informed everyone while his sensors showed him several life forms aboard the ship.

Allura and Haggar knew what that must have meant for them both. _"Alteans."_ They said at the same time through their mental bond.

"It seems like we've only got 1 clue to help us figure out what's going on, and it's floating right over there." Lance told his fellow Paladins while they looked at the Altean ship.

After separating the Lions and landing on the ship, the Paladin entered the vessel and the Altean princesses used their lights on their suits to see. "Hello? Is anyone here?" Allura called out.

"Allura, baby, we have to be quiet. Even if it is who we think it is, there's no telling what else is in this ship with them." Haggar gently and quietly said while holding her lover close to her as they all floated in 0 gravity.

While the Altean princesses and the earthlings were exploring the ship, they heard heavy breathing until Allura found a power device and turned the lights and gravity systems of the ship on before they dropped to their feet before Katie asked. "So, did the crew abandon ship?"

Lance saw a body close to the controls and walked up to it while removing his helmet. "I don't know, but they couldn't have gotten far without their spacesu-" he said before he removed the helmet and saw a skinless head, shocking him enough to make him step far away from the dead body of an Altean wearing a manacle. "Those aren't empty!"

Allura and Haggar then went to the control screen and turned out the last recording, which revealed an Altean reporting that they had managed to find a 2nd comet based on King Alfie's information and got it aboard but it caused massive disturbances as they were heading back to Altea. But the male Altean didn't think that he and the rest of the crew would be able to make it that far before an explotion caused the screen to go black.

"What happened here?" Hunk asked, wondering what could have happened on the ship that caused this.

"Something deadly." Lance answered.

"This still doesn't explain the biorhythms I picked up in this area." Hunk said as he checked his mobile sensors.

That was when 2 beings dropped from the ceiling. Lance rushed to attack while shooting his blaster before Haggar used her power to lift them up while breaking off their masks to reveal...Shiro and Slav, much to everyone's shock. "No way! Shiro?" Hunk asked.

"Stay back!" The 1 who looked like Shiro said, but with an accent.

"If you've come for the comet, you'll never get it. I'll die before I let it fall into Altean hands!" Slav said with determination.

"Wait. You know us?"

"Of course we do. You're Shiro, the black Paladin of Voltron. And you're Slav. I rescued you from a space prison." Lance answered, still freaked out.

"I don't know who you are, but you've never rescued me from anything before... unless…"

"You're from an alternate reality." Katie and Alternate Slav said at the same time, coming up with the only conclusion.

"What?" Haggar asked hers and her Allura's surrogate younger sister.

"I think, when we passed through that wormhole, we entered an alternate reality." Katie answered.

"You mean, like, what Slav was always talking about? Our Slav?" Lance asked.

But Allura wanted to know something else. "Why did you attack the captain and his crew?"

"Stay back, Altean!" The 1 who looked like Shiro told the Altean princess, making Haggar angry at the 1 who threatened her lover.

"We found the ship this way. But I can't say I'm sorry they're gone." Alternate Slav answered while not having any sympathy for the Altean captain and his crew. That was when his sensors beeped and he checked them, seeing more Alteans coming. "Oh no, more Alteans!"

"Wait! More Alteans?!" Haggar asked with disbelief, along with Allura before the 2 alternate versions of Shiro, named Sven in this reality, and Slav retreated.

"Haggar, did he just say we're being boarded by Alteans?" Allura asked her lover as they held each other close.

"I'm not sure, my sweet princess." Haggar answered honestly.

That was when they heard the doors close to them clanging, making them prepare for an attack before Altean soldiers came through the door, with an Altean professor of sorts and a huge creature in an Altean uniform. Their leader, a female Altean with pink hair walked up to them and ordered. "Put down your weapons!"

Allura and Haggar could not believe their eyes, as they gasped at seeing more Alteans besides themselves and Coran. "Alteans." They both said together.

But the female leader was shocked as well at seeing Allura and Haggar. "It can't be. Empresses." She said before she and the others vowed before the Altean princesses.

"Allura. Haggar, what's going on?" Katie asked switch confusion while standing close to her surrogate older sisters.

"Are you Empresses Allura and Haggar?" The female Altean asked.

"No. We are princess Allura and princess Haggar." Allura answered.

"Empresses Allura and Haggar? What do you...mean by that?" Haggar asked with shock at her and her lover being called empresses.

"Please, stand." Allura said gently, making the Alteans do just that.

The female Altean then introduced herself while explaining why she called them empresses. "I am General Hira, Empresses. How can you both be here? Empress Allura, after freeing your beloved Haggar from Zarkon, you both put down his uprising soon after. After that, you both established the Altean empire and married shortly after. It was 10,000 years ago."

The Altean princess were completely nonplussed by what they were hearing. While they had always dreamed of getting married and ruling Altea as it's benevolent queens, they'd never imagined for 1 second that there was actually an alternate reality where their greatest dream of the life they wanted with each other had actually come true. And to hear that they'd actually stopped Zarkon's uprising and even established their own empire was a complete shock to both of them.

After seeing how nonplussed her surrogate older sisters were, Katie explained why to general Hira. "Where we're from, all the Alteans were wiped out by Zarkon when he destroyed your planet. But princess Allura survived thanks to her dad but Haggar was never saved and became Zarkon's high priestess. 10,000 years later, my friends and I found Allura and she and Haggar eventually reunited with each other again. They've even become the new Paladins of Voltron."

General Hira and the other Alteans were surprised at hearing that before the Altean professor asked. "Where did you come from?"

**Meanwhile, with Lotor**

"Amazing. Your theory about Voltron was finally proven correct." Acxa told her Emperor while looking at a holographic image of the energy swirl and the ship stuck inside of it.

"I was hoping to see some more fireworks when it hit that energy swirl." Zethrid said with a bit of disappointment. "I guess all of the previous attempts to get it out were just more enjoyable to watch. For me, not for your pilots."

"Voltron made it through because he is made of the same material as that comet that King Alfor tried to hide from my father." Lotor explained before revealing a plan to get the comet. "Now, let's see if the new Paladins can bring it out to us."

"But what if Voltron's unable to escape the other reality?" Ezor asked.

"If Voltron disappears from our world, then we win, if they make it out with the comet, we'll take it from them. It's a win either way." Lotor answered with a smirk, knowing that either way, he'd win.

**Back in the alternate reality**

"This is the comet Commodore Trayling must've been talking about in his transmission." Katie said as she flew her Lion close to the comet, seeing that it must have gotten stuck between the 2 realities like the ship did. "It seems to be caught between the 2 realities, just like the ship."

"Could you obtain a sample for us with your Lion?" The Altean professor asked.

"I can try." Katie answered before landing on the comet, getting a sample and getting back on the ship where she examined it. "Amazing. It's Voltron."

"What?" Lance asked, freaked out.

"I mean, it's not Voltron, obviously, but the readings from this comet are the same ones Zarkon was searching for. The same ones that led us to the Blue Lion." Katie explained.

"That's how you were able to pass through to this reality. Your vehicle was made from the same trans-reality-material." The Altean professor said, knowing that that was most likely the case.

"So, that's why Voltron's so powerful." Hunk said, now knowing how Voltron was so powerful.

"With this material, Altea can create their own trans-reality traveling ships. We can spread our peace and stability to all realities." The Altean professor said before he contacted general Hira. "General Hira, I have just stumbled across something in this ship's hold that will ensure empress Allura's and empress Haggar's rule for millennia to come."

After telling general Hira, the Altean professor explained how they planned to spread their peace across all of the realities: to attach a will stealing device called the Hoktril, which the creature next to him named Modiolus, had on the back of his head, to everyone in all the realities, making the Paladins gasp in horror, as this was enslavement and control, not freedom or peace.

When they had time to themselves, the 3 Paladins discussed that they needed to get Allura and Haggar and get out of this reality before Sven and Slav showed up, having a plan to get them out before the Altean professor and his soldiers showed up and pointed their weapons at all of them while referring to Sven and Slav as the Guns of Gamara, implying that there were more people like them who opposed the Altean empire.

**Meanwhile, in another part of the ship**

"So, the Alteans of this reality defeated the Galra?" Allura asked general Hira.

"Led by you, my Empress. Without your will to fight and avenge the loss of your father... and to save your darling wife, the powerful Altean prodigy, Haggar, Altea would not have been able to spread peace and stability throughout the universe." General Hira answered, making Allura smile, as in this reality, her ultimate dream had come true. "Rescuing Empress Haggar and defeating Zarkon was the 1st step, but we refuse to give up until all worlds know the true peace Altea has achieved."

"That is so wonderful." Allura said with a hopeful smile.

But Haggar was thinking differently, as even though all of this did sound wonderful, something about the Alteans from this reality was not right, as they are not the same Alteans that she remembered on hers and Allura's home planet. _"Something's not right about these Alteans. I can sense it just by looking at her." _

"Advancements have been made, my Empresses. Citizens that might have been casualties of war in your younger days can now be rehabilitated. Entire races who warred for millennia can now know peace and help us to further our new world." Hira told them, while promising to make this alternate version of her Empresses' ultimate dream come true.

"So, they become part of the Altean peace movement?" Allura asked, beginning to believe this Altean general.

"Allura, I don't think this is right. It does sound wonderful, but there's something about the way these Alteans are spreading peace that sounds like taking away free will and the right to choose. The same way my father and Zarkon took away mine all those years ago." Haggar said to her lover as she put a hand on Allura's shoulder.

"Empress Haggar, I assure that what we're doing in this reality is nothing like what Zarkon and your father tried to do to you. Here, let me show you both something." General Hira said before showing the Altean princesses a holographic image of the Altea in this reality. "My Empresses, this is our Altea. Come with me. Allow me to show you the magnificence it has achieved. What you both have achieved."

Allura was very tempted by this offer. Ever since she awoke from her stases sleep, she'd always dreamed of seeing her home planet with all its people living in peace. But there was 1 thing she wanted more than that: to be with her darling princess and to live a peaceful and happy life with her on their home planet, royalty or normal. "Returning to Altea. It seemed like an impossible dream, I could never allow the thought." She said before looking at Haggar. "My darling princess, do you realize what this could mean for both of us? We could see our home planet again, just like we've always dreamed of."

"It...does sound wonderful, my sweet princess, and there's nothing more I want than to see our home again...with you at my side forever. But... there's something I don't like about this. But... I'm willing to try... to make you happy." Haggar said with a reluctant smile, still having doubts about this.

"Empress Haggar, our Altea saved you from that dark future Zarkon forced upon you and stopped the Galra scourge from spreading throughout the universe, as it did in your reality. My Empresses, I assure you that we will do everything in our power to help you make the dream you've always wanted to come true a reality, as it did here. The comet in this ship's hold possesses the ability to travel between realities. If you both activate this ancient ship's power, we can fly forward and remove the comet from the tear. We can use it to travel to your universe and bring peace there, even to the Galra." Hira told the alternate versions of her Empresses, wanting the dream that never came to pass in their universe to come true, as it did in this reality.

Reluctantly giving in to Hira's words, but with Haggar still having doubts, the 2 Altean lovers walked up to the crystal above them and began to activate its power before the ship began to move forward to the Altean princesses' reality.

**Meanwhile, inside of the castle/ship**

Coran was typing something on the controls, to see if he could get the Paladins back. Keith was there too, trying to help. But no matter how much they tried, they couldn't find the Paladins, or Voltron. Allura's pet mice were squeaking worriedly to Coran, while he said. "I've tried every scan and test I can think of. There's no sign of Voltron anywhere."

This made the mice sad before Keith then said to Coran. "Damm it, I knew it was a mistake to go into that wormhole! You could have tried to stop them!"

Coran faced Keith with an irritating look. "How could I have stopped them? You know how Allura and Haggar are." Then the mice were squeaking something to Coran, which made him narrow his eyes. "I can't understand anything that you're saying, but I'll assume by your tone that that was an insult."

But then, Keith saw the Altean ship being pulled into the wormhole. "Coran! Look!"

Coran looked as well, both seeing the Altean ship and the wormhole disappearing, making him gasp. "Not good."

Keith shook his head in agreement. "Not good... at all!"

**Back in the alternate reality**

After the process was done, Allura and Haggar turned to Hira, who smiled. "You've done it, my Empresses. Soon, we'll use the comet to spread peace throughout every reality."

That was when the Altean professor and the soldiers brought the Paladins and the Guns of Gamara agents in the room, held at the gunpoint, confusing Allura. "What's going on?"

"Empresses, the Guns of Gamara have infiltrated this ship. These people are working with them." The Altean professor told them.

"Let them go!" Haggar commanded.

"Hira, you and the rest of Altea have turned this universe into an army of slaves. Peace at the sake of freedom!" Alternate Slav told the Altean general with disgust.

Allura was shocked at hearing this. "Slaves? Is this true?"

"Non-cogs are not slaves!" The Altean professor argued. "You're the ones who spread chaos and destruction! We're going to scan that little brain of yours and get the location of every rebel base. Finally, our wars can end."

"Allura. Haggar, you can't let this happen." Katie said to her surrogate older sisters.

Allura and looked at Hira, wanting to get through to her. "Hira, please. We both want the same thing: peace."

"Allura, I don't think she's going to listen, my sweet princess. She's already too far gone to see that this is wrong. Our... alternate counterparts influence, no doubt?" Haggar asked, knowing that hers and her sweet princesses' alternate counterparts had Altea completely under their influence.

"That's right. Do we really want the same thing? Your weakness has brought nothing but pain and suffering to your people at the hands of the Galra. And what's worse, you could not stop Zarkon from making your Haggar what he wanted her to be. We, on the other hand, have brought peace and order to ours. And, with this comet, we will bring our peace to every reality. The 2 of you are no Empresses of mine." Hira told coldly and with disdain for this alternate Allura and Haggar's weakness.

"And_ you're_ no Altean." Allura said with disdain, condemns the Alternate Alteans, as they had no honor by even calling themselves that.

"Allura is right. The Altean army we remember would never serve tyrants, even if they are our alternate counterparts!" Haggar added after her sweet princess, cursing hers and her lover's alternate counterparts, as what they had become no better than Zarkon as they prepared to fight.

This made alternate Slav laugh, confusing Lance. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because this is the reality where everything works out fine." He answered before the bombs that he and Sven planted before their capture went off. "Just in time."

After using her power to knock the alternate Alteans out, Haggar and the others ran through the ship to get to the Lions before more Altean soldiers ambushed them. Haggar then used her power to create a force field around her and her friends and sent electric energy at them to deal with them before the Paladins got to the Lions.

"This is all my fault. I activated the ship. They're going to dislodge the comet and have the power to terrorize every reality." Allura said with remorse for so easily believing Hira's words.

That was when alternate Slav contacted her. "No, you can still get the comet away from them."

"Katie, scan for the comet." Haggar told her surrogate younger sister.

Katie did just that and quickly found the comet. "Already picked up on its elemental signature."

"Good. Everyone, we're going back in to get it. Form Voltron!" Haggar told her fellow Paladins and friends before they did just that and quickly got the comet. They then flew away from the ship and Katie looked for the exact same spot they entered the alternate reality from.

General Hira began to shoot at Voltron but Haggar used her power to put a barrier around Voltron to protect herself, her lover and her earth friends. When they tried to engage the ship's thrusters, they couldn't, as alternate Slav had tampered with the controls. When Katie found the right spot, the Paladins used the comet to open the wormhole and quickly went through it before the big laser blast could hit Voltron before the wormhole closed!

General Hira looked shocked, as Voltron managed to escape back to their own reality with the comet. "No!"

At that moment, an incoming call came from Altea. A commander then said, as the incoming call came. "General, we got an incoming call from Empress Allura and Empress Haggar."

This horrified General Hira. How was she going to explain to her Empresses that they failed to take the comet? She gulped as she ordered to open the channel. "On screen."

On the screen appeared Hira's true Empresses, wearing beautiful dresses and crowns on their heads that were fit for queens. Empress Haggar was the first to speak. "General Hira. We received your message that you and the professor have the comet from Commodore Trayling's ship. How soon can it be brought to Altea?"

When Hira became nervous to tell them what had happened. Empress Allura became suspicious and asked. "You do have the comet, do you?"

Hira had no other choice but to report that she had failed. "I... have failed you, my Empresses."

This made Empress Haggar angry. "What!? You had specific orders to take the comet no matter the cost! What happened?! Did the Guns of Gamara take it?!"

Hira shook her head while answering. "It was not the Guns of Gamara who took it. It was... you."

"I beg your pardon?!" Allura asked very seriously, as what Hira said made no sense.

Hira then started to explain. "The comet made a rift to another reality, and out of it... came some people who call themselves the 'Paladins of Voltron' and you both, all from another universe." This surprised the Altean Empresses as Hira continued. "They said they came from a reality where the Zarkon won the war and rules the universe, and the Alteans have gone extinct."

Both Empresses looked at each other, before glancing at General Hira with a serious look. Empress Haggar commanded the Altean general before breaking contact. "Then you and the professor come to us on Altea at once. We want an explanation about what happened."

**Back in the original reality **

Voltron came through the wormhole with the comet, much to Coran and Keith's relief. But before they could contact them, Lotor and his ships appeared and fired on them!

"Thank you for answering my distress signal, Voltron." Lotor said with a smile, revealing that he was the 1 who sent the distress signal in the 1st place as his fighters grabbed the comet.

Allura and Haggar were the 1st to wake up, having been unconscious due to passing through the wormhole a 2nd time. "Coran, we're here." Allura answered her servant, who tried to contact them again.

**Later, in the castle**

Allura and Haggar were sitting on the bridge looking outside, with Allura having put her hair down, allowing Haggar to rub it gently as they embraced lovingly and deep in thought, as they could not believe that their alternate counterparts had sunk so low as Zarkon had.

That was when Katie walked up to them and spoke gently. "Allura. Haggar, you both did the right thing. You couldn't let Hira get that ore."

"But now, Lotor has it." Allura said sadly with regret.

"You both didn't know. None of us did." Katie told them gently as she sat beside them.

"That's the problem, Katie. We never know. I should have known that Lotor would try something like this. And like a fool, I actually fell for it." Haggar said, blaming herself for falling for Lotor's trap.

"This is exactly why my father sent the Lions away so many years ago: to avoid this reality. Now I finally understand." Allura said with sadness, now finally understanding why her father sent the Lions away so many years ago instead of fighting back.

"Well get it back." Katie assured them.

"And if we don't?" Allura asked.

"Allura is right, Katie. Lotor is always 1 step ahead of us. He's much smarter than his file father or even I gave him credit for. I know he has a plan for that ore, and if he succeeds, the Galra will finally have a weapon as powerful as Voltron... and myself." Haggar said with dread, worried about what Lotor had planned for the ore.

**Back in the alternate reality, on Altea**

Inside the throne room, the two Altean Empresses read the full report of General Hira and the professor. Both Empresses couldn't believe what this comet could do, but both were very disappointed that they didn't have the comet anymore, so that they could spread their new way of peace to every reality.

Empress Allura and Empress Haggar then excused them, as both went to bed chambers before Empress Allura looked at her wife and asked. "What do you think of this, Haggar?"

Empress Haggar sighed deeply as she went to their balcony and looked at the beautiful landscape of Altea, the home that they had built together as they had promised as teenagers all those years ago. "If what Hira tells us is true, then there are other universes, different from our own that can be taught the ways of true peace."

Empress Allura nodded as she joined her wife and held her arm around her waist lovingly. "But how are we going to do that? We don't have the comet anymore."

Empress Haggar then closed her eyes, as she sometimes could see visions of the future. When she opened them, she told her loving wife. "We don't need to worry, my sweet wife. Soon we are going to meet our 'alternate versions' in person, and we will have a serious argument about what we try to accomplish."

This made Empress Allura worried and she asked while stroking Empress Haggar's cheek and traced her red marks with her index fingers. "Then what, my darling wife? What will be the result of that argument?"

Empress Haggar looked at Allura in the eye while she shook her head. "I cannot see the full details. But what I do see is that in the end... something more beautiful will come out of it."

Empress Allura was somehow relieved to hear that, but also worried what that would mean. Just then, an Altean servant entered their chambers and said while bowing before them. "My apologies for disturbing you, my empresses, but your daughter has just returned from her mission from finding the secret outpost of the Guns of Gamara."

Both Empresses nodded before Empress Allura said politely. "Thank you. We'll be there shortly. Tell our beautiful princess that we want to have dinner with her while she reports to us about her mission. We haven't had family time in person with her for a while and we know that she's wanted to have time together with us for some time. After today, she deserves a break."

"Yes. I think it's time we give our little princess a much deserved family vacation on that beautiful forest clearing that she loves so much. She always did have natural skills with the cute animals there." Haggar said with a sweet smile of a proud mother.

"Yes, she does, my darling wife. Just like her mothers." Allura said with a sweet smile before they shared a passionate kiss as the servant made another bow and left their chambers.

**There you go, my dear friends, the Hole in the Sky episode is complete. Next chapter will be the Tailing a Comet episode. Rate and review. See you next time, my dear friends.**


End file.
